
PJass !AS7 

Book 

Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



t 



SUNDAY TALKS 

with 

Boys and Girls 



By 
BARBARA YECHTON 

Author of" We Ten," « A Matter of Honor," " Two 

Knights Errant," " y Toinette," " Honor & Ever el," 

" Some Adventures of Jack and Jill" etc. 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS WHITTAKER 

2 and 3 Bible House 



T)V>57I 



ONQRESS 

SEP. 6 1906 
$ /ft- Ate w« , 




Copyright, 1905, 
By LYDA FARRINGTON KRAUSfi 



To 

the boys and girls 

who read these Talks, 

with the love and sympathy 

of the author, 

Barbara Techton 



Sunday Talks With Boys 
and Girls 



"And what I say unto you I say unto all, watch." — 
St. Maek 13 : 37. 

THIS injunction comes to us direct from 
the lips of our Lord, dear children, and 
it has a very solemn meaning for us all. 
The Lord foretells His second coming, when He 
shall return to judge the world. 

He will come this time, not as the Babe of 
Bethlehem, poor, unhonored and almost un- 
known ; but clothed with all the majesty and 
power which belong to the Son of God. 

A strange and awful change shall come over 
the heavens and the earth. The dead shall rise 
from their graves, and gather with the living 
before the throne of Jesus Christ, and He shall 
judge each one. 

In that last day, sham and hypocrisy and vain- 
glory and self-righteousness will be of no avail, 
nor excuses nor promises — the time for those will 
be past. The secrets of every heart will be re- 

1 



SUNDAY TALKS 

vealed, and those who have slighted, or scorned, 
or forgotten their Saviour will be filled with 
terror and remorse and confusion. But those 
who have loved and served Him will be 
glad. 

Love is what we shall be judged by — the 
amount of genuine heart-love for Christ which 
we have put into our lives and actions. The boy 
or girl who has kept back a sharp word, or re- 
frained from a mean act because he or she love 
Jesus, will be dearer to the Lord in the Judg- 
ment Day than some one else who has accom- 
plished a greater work from a less noble motive. 
Kem ember this, dear children, and make the 
small things of your lives honorable by the spirit 
in which you perform them. 

Nothing is too small to escape the Saviour's 
notice, therefore nothing should be too small to 
be done well. 

Words, and thoughts, too, shall come into 
judgment, careless, angry, naughty words and 
thoughts, and gentle, loving, holy ones. Oh, my 
boys and girls, God help us so to live that the 
record of our words and thoughts may be for us, 
and not against us in that last day. 

This second coming of our Lord is a fixed fact, 
He Himself has declared it. It has not been 
revealed to any one at what day or hour He will 
appear, whether in the evening or at midnight, 

2 



SUNDAY TALKS 

or in the early dawn, or in the morning ; but we 
do know that His coming will be sudden and 
swift. And it is because of this uncertainty that 
the Lord bids us all " watch," so that come when 
He will He may find us ready for Him. 

You know what a watchman is, do you not, 
children ? 

Wherever there is any sense of insecurity a 
guard or watch is set, to look out for possible 
danger and to give timely w r arning should it ap- 
pear. In olden times watchmen were stationed 
on high towers, from which they got a full view 
of the surrounding country, and where they were 
able to see the movements of an enemy, and to 
give notice of his approach. Sometimes the sig- 
nal of warning was a long, shrill blast on a 
trumpet, and sometimes it was a loud cry. Those 
who heard it understood at once that the sound 
meant danger, and immediately prepared to de- 
fend themselves. As long as the watchmen were 
faithful, the people were in no danger of being 
taken by surprise. 

Along the seacoast of our country are forts, 
bristling with guns, and sentinels pace up and 
down the ramparts; these sentinels are the 
watchmen, and it is their duty to be on the look- 
out, night and day ; that no foe steals in upon 
the land. Some of you older ones know how 
necessary sentinels are to an army in time of war. 

3 



SUNDAY TALKS 

They are thoroughly drilled in time of peace so 
as to be able to fill their part well when there is 
need of them — for a great deal depends on the 
sentinels. 

They are stationed on the outskirts of an army 
or a camp or of a city to give warning of the 
enemy's approach, and one careless sentry can 
undo the work of the most skilful general. A 
great city was once lost because the sentinel, who 
should have given the alarm, slept at his post. 

Those of you who have visited a military sta- 
tion must have noticed the sentries marching up 
and down with ceaseless regularity, their muskets 
over their shoulders. 

" That's not hard work ; it's not like fighting," 
a little boy once said to me, motioning to one of 
the sentinels on Governor's Island. " Why, I'd 
like no better fun than to walk up and down as 
he does, with a real gun on my shoulders." 

A faint smile flickered over the lips of the quiet 
soldier. He knew the grave responsibility which 
rested upon him, and he knew, too, how much 
easier stirring action would be than the tiresome 
silent tramp up and down, through the heat or 
cold of the day or the quiet gloom of the night. 
He knew what it meant to be a watchman. 

Do you know what it means, children ? 

It is to be ever on the alert, with sharp eyes, 
sharp ears and quick judgment. It is to be silent 

4 



SUNDAY TALKS 

unless danger threatens, and then to be bold and 
full of courage, to be able to endure fatigue, and, 
above all, to be wide-awake and faithful. A 
sentinel who sleeps at his post, or who deserts it 
in time of danger, is considered deserving of 
death. It is his duty to be on the watch all the 
time, whether in peace or war. 

And this is the kind of watchman we must be 
if we want to overcome our enemies, which are 
our sins, you know, dear children. Let us there- 
fore pray together for God's help that we may 
have grace given us to " cast away the works of 
darkness " and to fill our lives so full of sweet, 
kindly, loving thoughts and words and deeds, 
that at the second coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ we may be found worthy to enter with 
Him into glory everlasting. 



II 

" And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say 
unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." — St. Matt. 
25 : 40. 

I HOPE, dear children, that you have all read 
this passage very carefully, for it contains 
our Saviour's own words, and they are full 
of a most solemn meaning. 

Our Lord describes His second coming — in 
great glory, surrounded by His angels, and sitting 
on the throne from which He shall judge the 
world. Every creature that has ever lived, men 
and women, boys and girls, the rich and poor, the 
wise and simple, shall all stand before Him and 
receive their reward for the deeds which they 
have done or left undone during their lives. 

You have read of the division which the Lord 
will make, and, I hope children, that you will 
notice particularly what the deeds are that He 
will commend in those whom He shall have 
placed on His right hand : Feeding the hungry, 
giving drink to the thirsty, being kind to the 
stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, 
and giving sympathy and help in time of 
trouble. 

6 



SUNDAY TALKS 

And to whom does the great Judge say that 
these things will have been done ? 

To Himself. 

He identifies Himself with all that are in need 
or lonely or poor, or ill or in any trouble, and 
whatever is done for them He counts as being 
done to Himself. 

This proves to us that service to man is accept- 
able as worship to God. 

These things that will find favor with our 
Lord at the last day are not difficult to do ; they 
are merely the simple duties that come into every 
one's life. Not a day passes but we have oppor- 
tunity to do at least one kindly deed for a fellow 
creature, and in that way show our love for 
Christ. Having that love in our hearts is what 
will enable us to see our opportunities, and give 
us the inclination and ability to make good use 
of them. Under the influence of this love what- 
ever we may accomplish will fall so short of what 
we feel we ought to do, that we shall take no 
count of our kindly deeds or ever realize that we 
are doing them. 

This love of Christ is " a great thing, yea, a 
great and thorough good; it makes everything 
that is heavy, light ; and it bears evenly all that 
is uneven. . . . Love feels no burden, thinks 
nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its 
strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility . . . 

7 



SUNDAY TALKS 

and makes everything that is bitter, sweet." It 
is this love that will help us to see Christ in 
every one that needs our help, and to give that 
help as unto Him, and it is lack of this love that 
will make us harden our hearts to the sorrow or 
needs of our fellow creatures. 

Try to do at least one act of kindness every 
day. If it does not come in your way, or you are 
so situated that you can't give food and drink and 
clothes to any one, or take any one into your 
home, there are other things that I know you can 
do, and some of them may lie close at hand. 
Perhaps it may be giving up an hour of play now 
and then to sit with a friend or schoolmate, who 
is confined to the house. Or it may be in taking 
the part of and being kind to some boy or girl 
you know, who is poor or dull or not a favorite 
with the other boys and girls. Perhaps it may 
be in giving of your time and money to make a 
little joy for some one less well off than you are, 
or in putting yourself out to comfort and sym- 
pathize with some one who may be in trouble. 

These opportunities and many more may be 
easy to find, and then again you may have to 
look carefully for them. In either case, dear 
boys and girls, do your best to make good use of 
each one, remembering Who it is that notes the 
doing or leaving undone of these kindnesses. 

A sweet old legend, which I like to think of, 
8 



SUNDAY TALKS 

runs that, if we repent of any sin we have com- 
mitted before the day is finished, and offer an act 
of love done for Christ's sake, the Recording 
Angel is allowed to wipe out the evil and put the 
good deed in its place. This story is only a 
beautiful fancy, but it seems to me it teaches a 
truth — that we should show our love for Christ 
in brave, kindly deeds, not empty words, and that 
now, while life lasts, is the time to do the things 
which please Him. 

We know that our Lord will come a second 
time ; that He will come suddenly ; that He ex- 
pects us to work until He appears ; and we know 
also the kind of work He expects us to do. If 
we watch earnestly and work faithfully our 
Judge will be our loving Friend, and the Day of 
Judgment will have no terror for us. 



Ill 

"After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and 
reckoneth with them." — St. Matt. 25 : 19. 

LAST Sunday's lesson impressed upon us 
the urgent necessity for watchfulness lest 
the Bridegroom coming suddenly — as He 
will — should find us unprepared. And the par- 
able of the talents which I hope you have all just 
read teaches us that our Lord expects us to work 
as well as watch. And that we shall be held ac- 
countable for the amount that we have done or 
left undone in our lifetime. 

Some of you may say : " We are only little 
children, we have no talents, and no opportunities 
like grown people, so why should we be held ac- 
countable ? " 

You will be held accountable, dear boys and 
girls, because you have, each one of you, talents, 
or at least a talent, and it is quite possible for 
you to make good use of it, and increase it if you 
only realize your responsibility. 

You know the story — how a certain master 
gave his servants each a portion of his goods or 
property to take care of and increase while he 
was absent. You will notice, children, that he 

10 



SUNDAY TALKS 

did not give the same amount to each servant ; 
he knew the capacity and opportunity of each 
one of them, and gave accordingly. You have 
read of the different ways in which they fulfilled 
the trust. How the servant with the five talents 
traded with his money — bought and sold, per- 
haps cloth, or spices, or silk, and sold them again 
at a good profit, then bought and sold again 
until he had doubled his master's money. How 
the one with the two talents also used his so well 
that he, too, doubled the sum which had been 
entrusted to him. And that the one to whom 
the smallest amount had been given dug a hole in 
the ground and buried it ! You know of the day 
of reckoning which came with the master's re- 
turn, his praise and generous reward to those who 
had made good use of his property and his reproof 
and punishment of the lazy, unfaithful servant. 

Now we are all God's servants, and to each 
one He has given talents or talent to be used for 
His benefit and for which we shall have to render 
an account at the last day. 

Some have five talents like our dear Longfellow 
and Lowell, and the great English poet Tennyson 
and others. These men worked well with their 
Master's property — they used it to elevate and 
ennoble their fellow creatures, without measure 
and without stint, and their reward will be that 
of " good and faithful servants." 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

George Washington used his talents well — so 
did single-hearted, upright Abraham Lincoln and 
our own "honorable Curtis." So did Raphael, 
and Michael Angelo, and William Shakespeare, 
and hosts of other great ones who realized that 
God had given them five talents and that they 
must double, aye, and if need be, treble the 
amount before the reckoning was required at 
their hands. 

We can't all be five or even two talent people. 
Our Lord knows just how much we are able to 
use, and the smallness of our talent is no good 
reason for our not making use of it, and increas- 
ing it. What would you think of a boy who re- 
fused to run at all simply because he couldn't be 
the fastest runner in his set ? How you would 
all laugh at him ! 

It is our duty to use and make the most of 
every talent that God has given us ; constant, 
conscientious use will increase its value. You 
know, children, your right hand or any limb 
would become useless if you never used it, and 
you also know, how exercise — use — increases 
both strength and usefulness. If you are spec- 
ially good in music, or history or geography, or 
languages, that is your talent, and see that you 
study well and improve it. God wants no idlers, 
no lazy ones doing His work. He wants your 
very best service. 

12 



SUNDAY TALKS 

Perhaps you are not clever at your books, but 
you have a way of keeping peace at home or at 
school, of pleasantly settling some dispute that 
might otherwise come to an open quarrel ; culti- 
vate that, dear boy or girl, it is a blessed talent. 
I fancy it will be counted equal to ten talents at 
the last day. Perhaps another's talent may be 
in being able to run errands carefully and cheer- 
fully for mother, or even in keeping baby quiet 
when every one else is busy. 

Don't fancy, like the lazy servant in the par- 
able, that a small talent is not worth cultivating. 
The smallest is of as much importance in our 
Lord's sight as the largest, and the reward is just 
as sure, the praise just as warm. You will re- 
member that the man who had doubled his five 
talents received no higher reward than the one 
who had increased his two to four. From him 
that hath much, much shall be expected. 

Above all things, dear children, let us remem- 
ber that these talents of ours, be they five or two 
or one, are only lent us to make good use of, and 
that we shall surely have to give an account at 
the last day of the way in which we have used 
them. Let us use them, in whatever proportion 
they may have been given us, as a preoious trust 
from our Lord, by which we may render more 
and more loyal and loving service unto Him and 
to our fellow creatures. 

13 



SUNDAY TALKS 

And then, when the struggle and warfare of 
life are over, and we stand face to face with our 
Judge, may ours be the blessed reward : 

" Well done, good and faithful servant ; thou 
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make 
thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the 
joy of thy Lord." 



14 



IV 



11 Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour 
wherein the Son of man cometh." — St. Matt. 25 : 13. 

IF you look it up, dear boys and girls, you 
will find that this verse is from our Lord's 
parable of the ten virgins who went out to 
meet the bridegroom. 

The most important part of the marriage cere- 
mony in the East was when the bridegroom 
escorted the bride from her home to his own. 
Attended by his friends and " groomsmen " he 
went to the house of the bride, where she awaited 
him, dressed, as was the custom, in white, gold 
embroidered robes, adorned with jewels, and 
surrounded by her female friends and her brides- 
maids. At a certain hour of the evening (in the 
East marriages always take place at night) a 
procession was formed, composed of all the com- 
pany, to escort the bride to her new home, and 
they started on their way with music, and lights, 
and every sign of rejoicing. Invited guests, gen- 
erally in parties of ten, provided with torches, or 
lamps, waited and watched for the procession at 
certain stations, falling into their places as it 
appeared, without a moment's delay. 

15 



SUNDAY TALKS 

Time was most valuable on such occasions, and 
those who were not ready on the minute, pro- 
vided with the wedding light, lost their places 
and the cavalcade moved on without them. 

The lamps referred to in the parable were 
probably small lamps fastened to the end of a 
stick ; flasks of oil were taken along in case there 
should be need for replenishing, and a little 
instrument with which to " trim " the wick — all 
preparations being made before the wedding party 
came along, as it would wait for no one. 

Now you will understand the serious situation 
in which the five foolish virgins spoken of in the 
parable found themselves. They had not pro- 
vided themselves with an extra supply of oil, 
and just at the most important moment, when 
the expected bridegroom was actually coming, 
their lamps went out, and they were in great 
distress. 

Notice in verse eight their appeal to the wise 
five who had taken care to guard against just 
such an emergency, and their answer in the next 
verse. That shows of what little help the good- 
ness of others will be to us at the last great 
moment. And while the foolish virgins were 
absent seeking what they should have provided 
themselves with at first, the bridegroom came and 
passed by, and their opportunity was lost ! 

Children, do you see the solemn meaning there 
16 



SUNDAY TALKS 

is for us in this story ? You will remember that 
last Sunday our lesson was about the certainty 
of our Lord's second coming, and this parable 
teaches us that not only will He come but that 
He will come suddenly. 

The wise and foolish virgins are the good and 
bad people in the world — or rather the foolish 
virgins are those who once cared for the Lord and 
professed to love Him, but whose faith and love 
were not strong enough to last through trials, 
and to endure unto the end. The bridegroom is 
the Lord Jesus, who will come suddenly at the 
last day and find them unprepared to receive 
Him. 

Now to which of these two sets of people do 
my boys and girls belong ? You know they both 
went forth to meet the bridegroom. 

Are you really and truly trying to live in such 
a way that the Lord will find you prepared for 
Him, no matter when He shall come ? 

You know, dears, it is the heart our Lord looks 
at, not the action. We see merely each other's 
action, but He reads the heart and knows just 
how much is real love and how much outward 
show, and it is by His standard that we shall be 
judged when He comes at the last day. 

He sees and understands and appreciates all 
that His followers do for love of Him, and He 
knows, too, all the trials and temptations that 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

meet us on every side. Oh, children, it is part of 
the mighty love of God towards us that He has 
" committed all judgment unto the Son." For 
He has been tempted like as we are, and though 
He never sinned, His knowledge of our weaknesses 
will make Him very tender with His erring ones. 
Let us pray together, dear little ones, for 
strength to live as nearly after the example of 
Christ as in us lies, so that whether He appear in 
personal presence, or we are called to Him by 
death, we may be found watching and ready. 



18 



"And, lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the 
glory of the Lord shone round about them ; and they were sore 
afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for, behold, 
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all peo- 
ple."— St. Luke 2: 9,10. 

ONE night, more than eighteen hundred 
years ago, a group of shepherds were 
watching their flocks in a field in far- 
away Palestine. And as they watched in the 
beauty and quiet of the Eastern starlight, there 
came an angel messenger to them. St. Luke tells 
us that he was " the angel of the Lord," — probably 
clad in white and glistening robes — and with his 
appearing came also a glorious light that shone 
over the fields and hills which lie outside the city 
of Bethlehem. 

When the shepherds saw the heavenly mes- 
senger and the glory which accompanied him 
they were filled with fear. But the angel re- 
assured them, " Fear not," he said, " for, behold, 
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall 
be to all people." Then he told them the " good 
tidings." 

You remember the words of the Christmas 
message, do you not, children ? " For unto you 
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." 

19 



SUNDAY TALKS 

Then the angel gave the shepherds a " sign " 
by which they should be able to find " the new- 
born King." They were not told to look for 
Him in a palace, surrounded by luxury — no ; this 
is what the angel said, "Ye shall find the 
Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a 
manger." 

A manger seems a queer kind of cradle for a 
king, does it not ? Yet He was " King of kings, 
and Lord of lords " — the only Son of the living 
God. He left His glorious home in heaven, and 
came of His own free will, to be born on earth in 
this humble way that He might help " all people," 
the poor as well as the rich, the ignorant as well 
as the wise, and the bad as well as the good. He 
came to help all — remember the words the angel 
used, " I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people." 

And suddenly, as the heavenly messenger spoke, 
a host of shining angels appeared and strains of 
wondrous sweetness filled the air. " The heavenly 
host " were praising God for His mercy and lov- 
ing-kindness to mankind in sending His only Son 
to live among them. They knew what a bless- 
ing had come to the earth and this is what they 
sang : 

" Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace, 
Good-will towards men." 
20 



SUNDAY TALKS 

You can imagine, children, with what eagerness 
and awe the shepherds listened to this burst of 
glorious music, " the first and last melody of 
heaven ever heard by mortal ears." 

When their song was ended the angels returned 
to heaven. And as the last note of the seraphic 
music died away and the last beam of the won- 
drous light faded the shepherds set out in haste 
for Bethlehem to find the infant King. St. Luke 
tells us that they found Mary and Joseph, and, 
just as the angel had told them, " the Babe lying 
in a manger.'' 

A manger, as I presume most of you know, is 
a trough or box where fodder is put, and out of 
which horses or cattle eat. In one of these 
troughs lay the Christ-Child, and near by may 
have stood an ox or an ass, the animals for whom 
the stable was intended. And this was the first 
Christmas Day ! 

" On this wise was ye Sonne of Gode borne," 
says an old writer. " He gave up grete thinges 
for us men and for our salvation. . . . Shall 
not we that love Him in like manner, give up 
somethinge for His sake ? " And that is the 
lesson I want you to take home to your hearts, 
dear boys and girls, in this happy Christmas-tide. 
Take that blessedness of giving which every one 
knows at this season with you through the new 
year that is so close at hand. The "good tidings 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

of great joy " are for " all people " you know — 
try your best to make those you come in contact 
with realize this, by giving them some of your 
Christmas " good- will." If every one would only 
" give " more and think less of " getting " what 
a Christlike world this would be ! 

Give freely, dear children, all that you can, 
even as your Lord has given you. And do it not 
only to those who are near and dear to you but 
to " all people " — that is, to any one that comes 
in your way ; nay, do more, go out of your 
way to do a kindness to those who may need 
it. Let the necessity for the kindness be in- 
ducement enough. Give love, sympathy, cheer- 
fulness, kind words, at home and abroad, 
" and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, 
pressed down and shaken together, and running 
over." 

A little girl once said to her mother on her 
birthday, " Mamma, dear, I'm so poor this year I 
haven't a single thing to give you, but I'll dust 
the sitting-room every morning through the year 
for your birthday present, if you'll take that as a 
gift ; and because I love you so dearly and it's all 
I have to give you, I won't skip a single table 
leg or chair rung." Nor did she. And as she 
sang merrily over her labor of love morning after 
morning the mother's heart swelled with joy — it 
was the sweetest gift her little daughter could 

22 



SUNDAY TALKS 

have given her, because it proved the sincerity of 
her love. 

Can't some of my boys and girls make a birth- 
day gift to the Christ-Child that will last all 
through the year ? 

Try it, dear children, — begin it now, asking 
God's blessing on your work, and perhaps by this 
time next year, if your lives are spared, you may 
have been able to carry to some one the " good 
tidings of great joy," which came to "all people " 
when Jesus Christ was born. 



23 



VI 

"But as many as received Hiin, to them gave He power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His 
name." — St. John 1 : 12. 

CHILDREN, did you ever stop to con- 
sider how much depends upon yourselves 
in this life ? 
Suppose you were set down in a great library 
full of interesting and instructive books, what 
benefit would they be to you unless you opened 
and read them. If you spent day after day in an 
artist's studio, gazing at him, admiring his work, 
longing to be able to make as beautiful pictures 
as he did, and never put a pencil to paper, or 
a brush to canvas, could you ever expect to ac- 
complish your wish ? Or take music : If you 
had the finest teacher in the world, and never 
practiced you could not become a fine musician. 
Even eating — if the most delicious food were set 
before you, and you never put any of it into your 
mouths, how could it nourish you ? 

Just notice, boys and girls, and you will find 
that you have to take a share in everything that 
comes into your life. 
The boy that rides a bicycle has to make good 
24 



SUNDAY TALKS 

use of his feet and legs to keep it going. The 
girl who skips the rope or plays tennis must do 
her share, and a vigorous share, too, or it is no 
kind of a game. So it is with love for Christ — 
you must open your heart to receive Him, or He 
will not come in to you. 

Boys and girls may be made to say their 
prayers, to read their Bible, to go to church and 
Sunday-school, but all that will not make them 
Christians unless they, of their own free will, 
open their hearts to "receive Christ." It is a 
splendid thing, children, to know that we are 
perfectly free in this matter; that the love we 
offer our Lord is our own free and individual 
gift, given because we want to do it, not because 
we are forced to. Freedom is something to be 
valued — freedom of thought, of word, and of 
action, and particularly freedom from sin. 

Mr. James Russell Lowell says that " Freedom 
is that state in which a man (or a boy or girl) 
does his best." And for this reason even the 
smallest or poorest child who loves Christ can 
think noble thoughts, speak kindly words and do 
brave deeds, because Christianity — the religion 
of Christ, is a state of freedom, and no one who 
loves Him need be a slave to sin. 

When boys or girls open their hearts and " re- 
ceive " the dear Lord what a difference can soon 
be noticed in them. They learn to " believe" on 

25 



SUNDAY TALKS 

Jesus, that is, they learn to have faith in Him, 
and when boys or girls "believe" in anybody 
they are very apt to imitate that one. And it is 
through this very belief — faith, that you shall 
" become the sons " or children " of God." " And 
if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ." All those who " receive " 
Christ and love Him and believe on His Name 
are the sons and daughters of a King than whom 
there is no greater. Kemember this, dear chil- 
dren, and let your behavior show that you ap- 
preciate the honor that has come to you. 

You must cultivate royal virtues — you must be 
truthful and upright, it would be most unbecom- 
ing the sons and daughters of such a King to be 
untruthful and unjust. You must be brave and 
noble ; you must be generous and forgiving, and 
courteous and kind and loving to those about you. 
And above all things you must love and honor 
and obey your Father, and your King and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. Be faithful and 

"In life's small things be resolute and great 
To keep thy muscles strong ; knowest thou when God 
Thy measure takes? Or when He'll say to thee, 
' I find thee worthy, do this deed for Me ' ? ,J 



26 



VII 

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." — 
St. Matt. 5 : 8. 

TAKE notice, children, that our Lord does 
not say the great, or the famous, or the 
clever, or the strong shall be the ones to 
"see God," but those who are pure in heart. 
Therefore to be " pure in heart " is something for 
which we should all earnestly strive. 

You, each of you, know that your soul is 
clothed in a body and that that body is to be 
cared for and honored. The Son of God made 
the human body forever sacred when He came on 
earth to live among men in the form of a man ; 
and St. Paul tells us that our bodies are the 
temple of God and that God dwells in us. It is, 
therefore, our duty to take care of ourselves, and 
do all that we can to have sound, strong bodies. 

But with all this we must not forget to care 
for the souls which dwell in these bodies. Much 
better have a puny body and a great soul than a 
great body and a puny soul. And it is by culti- 
vating our souls rather than our bodies that we 
shall become " pure in heart." 

Eating, drinking, and dress and some recrea- 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

tion, are necessary to life, but they are only 
necessary in moderation, and it should be the 
duty of each Christian to guard against an in- 
ordinate love of the things of the world. World- 
liness and purity of heart do not go together — 
you remember our Lord said it was impossible to 
serve God and mammon. 

Intemperance in eating is gluttony — gluttony 
and pure-heartedness cannot live in the same 
heart. Intemperance in drink becomes drunken- 
ness and, as many a sad record has proved, the 
deeds of drunkenness are not pure deeds. In- 
temperance in dress is vanity, and vanity is not a 
" pure-hearted " quality. 

There are some other things we must avoid, 
too, dear children, if we desire to " see God," and 
be with Him hereafter. We must keep ourselves 
pure in thought and word and deed, and to be 
this we must guard our eyes and ears and lips. 

We must not look at pictures that do us harm, 
and which we would be ashamed to have any 
one for whom we have respect know we had 
seen. We must not read foolish or impure stories 
that fill our minds and hearts with vain and 
wicked thoughts and wishes. We must be brave 
enough to refuse to listen to jokes that are not 
nice, no matter who tells them. And we must 
pray for strength to keep our thoughts pure and 
to guard well "the door of our lips" that no 

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naughty thoughts be encouraged, and no words 
spoken that may influence some one else to do 
evil. 

A pure-hearted boy or girl will never dress or 
act immodestly, nor be happy or contented in the 
company of bad people. 

To be pure in heart is to be holy, and to be 
holy is to strive with heart and soul and strength 
to do only those things that are pleasing unto 
God. 

Purity is a divine quality which shall bring 
the greatest of all blessings to those who possess 
it. And trusting in our own strength will not 
give it to us ; let us therefore, dear little men 
and women, turn to our heavenly Father and 
pray together, 

" Almighty God, who seest that we have no 
power of ourselves to help ourselves : Keep us 
both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in 
our souls ; that we may be defended from all ad- 
versities which may happen to the body, and 
from all evil thoughts which may assault and 
hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen." 



29 



VIII 

"God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in 
God, and God in him."— 1 John 4 : 16. 

THOMAS A KEMPIS says, " Love is a 
great thing, yea, a great and thorough 
good . . . nothing is sweeter than 
love, nothing is more courageous, nothing higher, 
nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing 
fuller, nor better in heaven and earth." And 
St. John tells us that " God is love, and he that 
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in 
him." 

Children, did you ever think of what the world 
would be without love? Without the love of 
father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends, and, 
worst of all, without the love of God ? 

Love is the motive power of life. By its help 
marvelous things have been accomplished, and 
will be again. By its help men and women, and 
boys and girls have been able to put aside or to 
overcome selfishness, pride, anger, worldliness 
and all the sins which do " so easily beset " them, 
and to become unselfish, humble, meek and un- 
worldly. 

What is this love, children, and from whom do 
we get it ? 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

It is the very best of all the " good and per- 
fect " gifts which we have received, for the pos- 
session of it entitles us to all the other good gifts. 
And it comes direct from God — it is His free and 
glorious gift to His children on earth. 

Turn whichever way you like, my boys and 
girls, you will find evidences of God's love for 
you. Take a walk through the woods these 
lovely days, and note the beautiful colors of the 
foliage, the rippling music of the brooks, the ex- 
quisite blue of the heavens, and the clear bright- 
ness of the sunshine. Then as "the evening 
shades prevail," see how the soft light of the 
moon beautifies everything, watch the stars, 
" the forget-me-nots of the angels," as they 
twinkle "out into the meadows of heaven," 
and remember that it is God who has pro- 
vided all these beautiful and pleasant things 
for your enjoyment. 

When you are so happy that your feet dance 
along, and merry words and laughter come bub- 
bling over your lips, does it ever occur to you 
that it is God who gives your limbs the power 
to move, and your lips the power of speech ? 

These are more of the good gifts which your 
Father has given you. 

Or if you live in a big city keep your eyes 
open and your mind on the alert as you walk 
about the streets. Notice the lovely parks, the 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

statuary, the handsome dwelling houses, the hos- 
pitals, libraries, churches that meet you at every 
turn. Mark the long trains of cars as they steam 
into the great station bringing merchandise and 
passengers from all parts of the continent. See 
the elevated cars speeding their way through the 
air; the network of wires over which telegraph 
messages are sent ; and the electric lights which 
make dark corners as bright as day, and which 
trace fantastic patterns on the sidewalks of the 
trees and leaves, equal to fairy work. Think of 
the paintings that delight your eyes ; the books 
that strengthen and elevate your minds. And 
all these things (with many more, too), are signs 
of God's love for us all. 

I fancy I hear some boy or girl say, " Why I 
always thought men had done all these things." 

So they have, dear child, but who gave them 
the desire, and the wisdom and ability to accom- 
plish what they did ? Was it not God ? 

Every good thought comes from God, whether 
it be to make a law, or to build a church ; to in- 
vent a steam engine, or to endow a hospital. 
Remember " Every good and perfect gift is from 
above" — from God. And whenever a man or 
woman, or boy or girl, is able to accomplish 
something that will benefit others, you may be 
sure it is God's love for us shining out through 
him or her. 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

I am sure that it is God who gave the wis- 
dom and ability to build great bridges and noble 
churches, to lay the Atlantic cable, to carry 
through our subway ; and to Kaphael and Michael 
Angelo the genius to paint the beautiful pictures 
which they did, and He continues to give. 

But the very best of all God's gifts to us is the 
one I speak of last, because I want the thought 
of it to linger longest in your hearts. You all 
know what this " most perfect gift " is, don't you, 
children ? 

It is the redemption of the world by our Lord 
Jesus Christ. " God so loved " us that He gave 
us His only Begotten Son. And Christ so loved 
us that He suffered the awful agony of the death 
upon the cross that we might have everlasting 
life. 

This is the sublimest height of love. Our Lord 
Himself says, " Greater love hath no man than 
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' , 
And that is what He did for us. He counted us 
His friends, His sisters and brothers. And now, 
sitting on the right hand of God the Father Al- 
mighty, He is still our Friend, our Elder Brother ; 
ever ready to hear our prayers and to grant 
them. 

What is asked in return for all this marvelous 
love ? Hear what our Lord says about it : " If 
a man love Me he will keep My words." . . . 

33 



SUNDAY TALKS 

"This is My commandment, That ye love one 
another as I have loved you." 

And, children, though God has given us so 
many and such great gifts, and though the love 
which our Saviour Christ has shown us is so mar- 
velous, yet if one of those who love their Lord 
does the smallest act of kindness, visits a sick per- 
son, or, less still, gives a cup of cold water to 
some one who needs it, it is fulfilling the law of 
love which is the law of God, and it is pleasing 
to Him. 

The more you fill your lives with acts of kind- 
ness to those around you, dear boys and girls, the 
nearer you are living to God, for " God is love, 
and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God 
and God in him." 



34 



IX 

" "We are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; 
heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." — Romans 8 : 16, 17. 

ST. PAUL reminds us of a very sweet and 
comforting fact which some of us forget at 
times, namely, that we are " the children of 
God." The apostle continues, " And if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ." 

Now, children, this is a very great honor, and 
a great responsibility as well, for which we ought 
to fit ourselves. There must be something to in- 
herit before there can be heirs, and the certainty 
of the eternal life to which we shall attain by and 
by is a very sustaining power. 

One of the benefits of this relationship is that 
we are free as long as we keep out of sin ; as long 
as we obey the law of love and follow the ex- 
ample which our Lord Jesus Christ, our Elder 
Brother, has set before us. This example is some- 
thing for which we can never be grateful enough. 
It is not as if we had been put into the midst 
of great trials and temptations with nothing to 
guide us and no one to protect us. Our kind 
Father "so loved the world that He gave His 

35 



SUNDAY TALKS 

only begotten Son " to live upon earth, first in 
the form of a little, loving, obedient child, then 
as a brave, patient, loving man, who gave " His 
life for His friends," who by His death on the 
cross, and by His resurrection from the dead, gained 
for us the blessed certainty of eternal life, and 
the privilege of being free men and women, free 
boys and girls. 

Perhaps some of you will say, " I did not know 
that we were ever slaves." 

Yes, dear children ; and I am sorry to say that 
there are yet many slaves in the world. The 
bondage they are under is the saddest kind you 
can imagine and very often it is eternal. 

Suppose a boy or girl should get into such a 
habit of telling falsehoods, that sweet, wholesome 
truth became impossible to him or her — wouldn't 
that be slavery to Satan ? If people give way 
to temper continually, or to dishonesty or evil 
speaking, or to any other bad habit until at last 
it becomes an impossibility to throw it off — 
wouldn't you consider them slaves? Yes, dear 
children, and slaves to the worst kind of a master, 
too. And the very saddest part of it all is that 
they need not have gotten into that state of 
bondage if they had only asked for help in the 
right direction. 

You know, children, we are all born free — I 
mean, no one is put into this world under an ob- 

36 



SUNDAY TALKS 

ligation to sin. God would not so afflict us, for 
He loves us, we are His children. He sent His 
Son into the world in the likeness of a man, and 
by His Son's death all mankind were redeemed, 
so that we are free, boys and girls, free to be 
good and pure, free to be gentle, loving and 
Christlike, free, each one of us, to work out our 
own salvation. 

Don't be slaves, my little soldiers of the Cross. 
Don't let any evil habit get control of your souls 
or bodies. Kemember you are " heirs of God, 
and joint-heirs with Christ," and live as befits 
your honorable position. The child of such a 
King, the joint-heir with such a Prince, ought to 
realize the nobility of his or her responsibility, 
and so live as to prove worthy of the honor. 

Think of this, dear little ones, when you are 
tempted to do anything wrong, and ask your 
Lord's help to keep you free from sin, and there- 
fore free from bondage. 

The almighty and everlasting Father, who is 
always more ready to hear than we are to ask, 
and who gives more than either we desire or de- 
serve, will surely hear your prayer and grant you 
help for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ the 
Lord. 



37 



" My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of 
His might. Put on the whole armour of God." — Ephesians 
6:10, 11. 

YOU will remember, children, that the 
apostle who says this is the same who 
said, " Let him that thinketh he standeth 
take heed lest he fall," and when he bids us "Be 
strong in the Lord and the power of His might," 
St. Paul knew whereof he spoke. 

The great apostle to the Gentiles was now 
n earing the end of his earthly pilgrimage. He 
had preached " Christ and His Kesurrection " 
boldly, from Jerusalem to Eome, utterly regard- 
less of his own safety. He had not spared him- 
self in any way, nor considered anything too 
much to do or to bear. Take your Bibles, chil- 
dren, and in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, from the 
19th to the 31st verse, you will read of some of 
the hardships that St. Paul endured. And with 
it all not once does he murmur or repine. 

Even now when in a very short time he expects 
to be put to death, St. Paul does not falter. But 
he knows only too well that life is a constant 
warfare, and that those who serve Jesus of Naza- 
reth must expect to fight a sharp battle. So out of 

38 



SUNDAY TALKS 

his own experience he gives them the directions 
whereby they may have strength to meet the foe. 
St. Paul bids us " Be strong in the Lord, and in 
the power of His might. Put on the whole 
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand 
against the wiles of the devil." 

The foes we are to fight are not of flesh and 
blood, against which we could use physical force, 
and settle once for all, but far more dangerous 
ones. They are sly, persistent, undermining- 
working so quietly, sometimes, that we forget 
that they are at work at all until it is too late to 
dislodge them and we find ourselves captive to 
Satan. 

Everybody knows that a well-trained, well- 
equipped army has a great advantage over one 
that is badly organized and poorly clad. St. 
Paul knew that, and he says, " Wherefore, take 
unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may 
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having 
done all to stand." Put on the whole armour of 
God — that is, don't do it half-way. It would not 
have helped a man much in the old days, when 
full suits of armour were worn, to go to battle 
with only a helmet to cover him, or with a coat 
of mail and no helmet or shield. No one would 
call him well armed, and he would probably have 
fallen an easy victim to some archer's arrow. St. 
Paul wants us to wear a full suit of this armour 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

of which he speaks. He knows full well that we 
shall need every article of it in our fight with 
our powerful enemy. 

" Stand, therefore," says the apostle, " having 
your loins girt about with truth ; and having on 
the breastplate of righteousness ; and your feet 
shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, 
above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith 
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of 
the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation 
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the "Word 
of God." 

I fancy I hear some of you saying, " What a 
queer kind of armour with which to meet and 
fight a powerful foe! Why, that would be no 
armour at all." 

And yet, children, it is the safest, surest kind 
that can be worn. It is the kind which our Lord 
wore, and you know He conquered " death and 
hell " and " led captivity captive." It is the kind 
worn by the " saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs," 
and through it even the feeblest and most timid 
of them received strength to meet cruel death 
with a calm faith that astonished those who saw it. 

This is the only kind of armour for a Christian 
boy or girl to wear, and any one who wears a 
complete suit of it is a knight of the Cross — a fol- 
lower of Christ. Think for a minute what it means: 

Girded about with truth — brave enough to 
40 



SUNDAY TALKS 

speak it under all circumstances, and to take the 
consequence which may follow. " Shod with the 
preparation of the Gospel of peace " — feet which 
bear us on errands of mercy, and which count no 
extra steps, feel no extra labor, if only they can 
take to some one some of the peace of God with 
which we have been blessed. The shield of faith ; a 
shield was usually large enough to cover the en- 
tire body of the person who carried it, protect- 
ing him from the darts which might be flying 
about, so this shield of faith can cover us from 
head to foot, giving us such confidence in our 
Lord Jesus Christ that we have strength to resist 
the evil thoughts and inclinations which are the 
" fiery darts" of Satan. The helmet of salva- 
tion ; in another place in the Bible St. Paul speaks 
of this as " an helmet, the hope of salvation," and 
with this helmet on our heads, this hope of eternal 
salvation above us, we must try to keep naughty 
thoughts away, and to guard our eyes and ears 
and lips from seeing, hearing or speaking that 
which is evil. 

" And the sword of the Spirit " ; take notice, 
children, that this is the only weapon mentioned 
— do you know what it is ? It is the Word of God. 
And how are we to use it ? We are to study it, 
to lay its precepts to heart, and by practicing 
them in our daily lives to vanquish, with God's 
help, our old enemy, Satan. 

41 



SUNDAY TALKS 

St. Paul urges us to pray earnestly, and to 
watch closely that we may obtain this blessed 
armour ; and we are to do this not only for our- 
selves but for others as well, so that they, " our 
neighbors," may be as well protected in the battle 
of life as we are. 

And then St. Paul asks the Ephesians, to whom 
he is writing, to pray for him that he might have 
courage to preach the Gospel boldly. The greater 
part of the apostle's life had been spent in the 
service of the Lord ; he had borne cheerfully, 
nay, gladly, all the cares and trials, the hardships 
and imprisonments, that his love for the Master 
had brought upon him. He had preached " Christ 
crucified " everywhere, and now at the last, with 
the certainty of a painful death before him, he 
still fights " a good fight " and asks for help to 
speak the heavenly message " boldly," as he 
" ought to speak." 

Let us, dear boys and girls, so " watch and 
pray " that we may be able to " put on the whole 
armour of God. . . . And having done all, to 
stand " a faithful soldier and servant, even as St. 
Paul did, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



42 



XI 

11 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in 
much : and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in 
much."— St. Luke 16 : 10. 

SOME boys and girls have the wrong idea 
that little things are not very important ; 
that it does not matter if they slur over a 
small duty, or tell a little fib, or if they take what 
does not belong to them — provided it is of small 
value. They forget that these little things are 
what form their characters for good or evil, and 
these characters are what make us different one 
from the other. 

The little sins, if unchecked, invariably lead to 
greater ones, so they need the closest watching. 
Now what are some of the things in which boys 
and girls may be faithful or unfaithful ? 

The eighth commandment tells us, " Thou shalt 
not steal," and while we all know it by rote not 
many of us realize all the points which the com- 
mandment covers. The first meaning is to be 
absolutely honest — that is, not to take the slight- 
est thing that is not ours. Sometimes boys and 
girls fancy that because the thing taken is of 

small value the sin is not the same. 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

I heard of a boy who got very angry because 
he was reproved for taking a macaroon that did 
not belong to him. " What a fuss about such a 
little thing ! " he cried, angrily. " You know 
very well I wouldn't take a big thing." 

Now, children, stealing is stealing whether 
what is taken be a macaroon or a large sum of 
money. And if the little sin is not checked it 
will lead to a greater one — our Lord says, " He 
that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." 

Perhaps you have heard the proverb, "The 
child is father of the man," and thought it a 
queer saying, but it means that as the boy or girl 
is, so will be the man or woman. If the little 
sins are checked, the little temptations overcome 
as the years roll on, then will the character of the 
boy or girl grow strong and noble. But if, on 
the contrary, no effort is made to be faithful in 
the little things of life there will be no strength 
to meet and fulfil the greater trust. 

As you know, everything in the world is in a 
state of progress ; trees, flowers, vegetation and 
people all grow ; they cannot remain at one 
point. A boy cheats in a game for the first time ; 
he does not start out with the intention of doing 
so, but the opportunity comes and he cannot re- 
sist it. Nobody sees him do it, and he goes off 
undetected. His conscience whispers that he has 
done a dishonest act, but he puts away the warn- 

M 



SUNDAY TALKS 

ing with " Oh, it's only a trifle, I wouldn't do 
such a thing for money or anything valuable." 
Believing this he cheats the next time, and again 
and again, becoming more hardened each time. 
And then one day there comes a big temptation 
and these little sins have so undermined his hon- 
esty and uprightness that he has no strength to 
resist the greater sin, and he becomes "unjust 
also in much." 

The girl who copies a sum over the shoulder of 
a schoolmate and passes it along to her teacher 
as her own work is dishonest in a little thing and 
the sooner she realizes this and guards against it, 
the better prospect will there be of becoming 
faithful " in much." 

Dear children, let this rule apply to the small 
details of home as well — the cake in the cake 
box, the preserves in the closet, the candy in 
mother's drawer — remember none of these things 
are yours until they are given to you. Keep 
" clean hands " as well as " a pure heart." 

Another point which comes under this law is 
that of borrowing. Don't borrow, unless you are 
absolutely obliged to do so, and unless you are 
quite sure that you will be able to return what is 
lent to you. I am sorry to say that there is a 
great deal of this borrowing done among boys 
and girls, both at home and at school. 

At home something that one member of the 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

family has and values (though it may be only a 
trifle) is borrowed by another member, and be- 
cause it belongs to a sister or a brother, no trouble 
is taken to be careful with or to return what has 
been lent — children, do you think this is being 
honest ? 

At school it is the same, a pencil or slate, or a 
blank book is borrowed, or a lesson book to fill 
the place of one that has been left at home, and 
the borrower forgets, or does not respect the right 
of the lender to have the article returned. And 
the consequence is a broken promise that causes 
much inconvenience and makes an ill feeling. 

Kemember, too, that in wasting your school 
time or the hours for study or practicing you are 
taking time that does not belong to you for that 
purpose, and are not acting honestly by father or 
mother or teacher. 

Some of you may think these are very small 
things to speak about — perhaps they are, dears, 
but, you know, life is made up of small things. 
And as the accumulation of little sins builds up a 
bad, unlovable character, so the accumulation of 
little virtues builds up a noble, Christlike one 
which may influence some one else for good. 

We, none of us, can live to ourselves. Our good 
and bad deeds are bound to affect those we come 
in contact with in our everyday life. So you see, 
we are responsible in this matter for our neigh- 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

bors as well as ourselves. Let us therefore ask 
for help to be " faithful in that which is least " 
that thereby we may be strengthened to be 
" faithful also in much," and so, after this life is 
ended, be welcomed by our Lord as good and 
faithful servants. 



47 



XII 

"O come, let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the 
Lord our Maker." — Psalm 95 : 6. 

HOW often we have sung these words to- 
gether ! You know where they belong, 
do you not, children ? 

Some of you will say, "In the ninety -fifth 
Psalm." 

So they do, and they are also in the first 
anthem which we sing in church in the morning 
service. As you may read in your Prayer-Book, 
the Latin title of the anthem is Venite, exultemus 
Domino, and it begins, " O come, let us sing unto 
the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the strength 
of our salvation." You remember the words, I 
am sure, and how joyfully they express gratitude 
for the privilege of worshiping God. 

A psalm is a song composed on a sacred sub- 
ject, and in praise of God. This ninety-fifth 
Psalm was written by David, who is called " the 
sweet singer of Israel," because of the noble, 
tender, and holy thoughts expressed in what he 
wrote. 

There are 150 psalms, and David wrote the 
greater number of them. Others are by Moses, 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

Solomon, Asaph, Korab, Ethan, and Heman ; and 
some are by unknown authors. In his psalms 
David expresses praise, hope, repentance, and 
faith at the wonderful dealings of God with 
him. 

These poems, for such they are, were set to 
music and sung in the tabernacle services. Per- 
haps David composed the music to some of them 
as well as the words, for, as you will remember, 
he was a musician as well as a poet, having even 
invented musical instruments to be used for the 
service of God. As we know, the psalms were 
not all written by the same person, nor at one 
time, those by Moses being composed about fif- 
teen hundred years before our Lord Jesus Christ 
was born, and those by David nine hundred or a 
thousand years b. c. 

But, though written so many years ago, and by 
people so differently situated from ourselves, 
these beautiful sacred songs express the same 
feelings which are in our hearts to-day. They 
are full of love, joy, hope, trust, fear, and sorrow 
for sin, and are a very great help and comfort to 
us, both in our private and public devotions. 

This shows us that human nature has changed 
very little in all these centuries, and it proves to 
us that the men who poured out their souls in 
these noble, sacred hymns were inspired by the 
Holy Ghost, and that God intended what they 

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SUNDAY TALKS 

had written to stand throughout the ages as a 
help to those who should come after them. 

The whole collection of psalms was used in the 
Jewish Church for 400 years before our Lord 
came, and after that it became a part of the 
service of the Christian Church, coming down to 
us through more than eighteen centuries. 

David loved God, and praised Him with heart 
and voice ; and that is what we can do by joining 
in church and home services with heartiness and 
sincerity. We can praise God everywhere, but 
especially are we called upon to do so in His holy 
house when we meet together to " sing unto the 
Lord," and say we "come before His presence 
with thanksgiving, and show ourselves glad in 
Him with psalms.' 5 

God inspired David to write this beautiful 
psalm of praise for our help and benefit. And 
it is our bounden duty, as it should be our pleas- 
ure, to sing it forth with all our heart and soul. 

When we sit through the Venite instead of 
standing, or when we stand with closed lips and 
wandering attention, or when we sing without a 
thought of what we are uttering, the truth of the 
words, " O come, let us worship and fall down, 
and kneel before the Lord our Maker," becomes 
lost, and we are not rendering "unto God the 
things that are God's." 

David loved God, and through the indwelling 
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of the Holy Spirit he was allowed to look far 
ahead of his times and to prophesy of the Mes- 
siah who was to be called " the Son of David," 
though "He was David's Lord." So when we 
read or sing the psalms let us do it with all our 
heart and soul and voice, thus rendering praise 
and homage unto God our Father, Christ our 
Kedeemer, and the Holy Ghost, our Comforter 
and Sanctifier. 



51 



XIII 

"Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." — 
Matt. 3 : 8. 

SOME one may ask: "What are some of 
the ' fruits ' that are ' meet ' (that is, suit- 
able) for repentance ? " We have not time 
to-day to talk of all — not even of half — but one 
we must touch on, for it seems to me to be the 
first fruits of repentance. 

When we sin against our Lord and are heartily 
sorry and full of sincere penitence for our mis- 
doing, what do we crave of Him ? 

His forgiveness. 

Yes, and we are very apt to pray, like David, 
that our sins may be " blotted out " from God's 
remembrance, and that our misdeeds be not al- 
lowed to stand against us. 

What we pray and long for in our humiliation 
and distress is a full and free forgiveness, and He 
is so full of loving kindness and tender mercies, 
this dear Lord of ours, that we never pray in 
vain. Upon the unhappy soul falls such a sense 
of peace and rest as can come only from a forgiv- 
ing God. We feel loosed from our weight of sin 
and take up life again with thankful hearts and 
renewed courage. 

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And then come opportunities to " bring forth 
fruits meet for repentance" — to show by our 
dealings with our fellow creatures that we ap- 
preciate God's mercy to ourselves. 

Probably most of you know the story of the 
father who drove a nail into a post whenever his 
son was naughty, and drew them out when the 
boy repented, but, as you will remember, the nail 
holes were left ! 

This is, I am very sorry to say, often the way 
in which we measure out forgiveness to one 
another — we forgive but we do not forget. 
And so we keep the nail holes in full view all the 
time. 

Only the other day I heard a little girl say, 
" Yes, I've forgiven Kitty, but I can never forget 
what she said and did to me." What sort of for- 
giveness do you call that, children? Not a 
Christlike one, I am sure. 

That same little girl had been very naughty 
only a few weeks before. She and her mamma 
had prayed very earnestly together for God's for- 
giveness, and the child had been comforted by the 
feeling that her prayer was answered. Yet when 
it came her turn to pass along to her little play- 
mate some of the same mercy and love how 
grudgingly she gave! Ah, my dears, if God 
judged us as we judge one another very few of us 
would get to heaven ! This little girl lost an op- 

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portunity to " bring forth fruits meet for repent- 
ance." 

True repentance makes people very humble in 
their estimate of themselves, and very patient and 
tender and merciful towards those who offend 
them or sin against them. A willingness to for- 
give one another comes from a deep appreciation 
of God's forgiveness to us, and that forgiveness 
is always granted where there are true repent- 
ance and sincere sorrow for sin. 

Not a day passes but we sin against God, and 
every day we pray that He will forgive — " wipe 
out " — those sins, trusting to His mercy and love 
to grant our prayers. Yet so few of us forgive 
as we hope to be forgiven. 

Let us pray together, my boys and girls, for 
this true spirit of repentance, that so we may be 
able to honor our Lord and to forgive one an- 
other, remembering who it is that said : " But if 
ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which 
is in heaven forgive your trespasses." 



54 



XIV 

"And He saith unto them, Follow Me." — St. Matt. 4 : 19. 

ALL, except perhaps the very youngest, 
boys and girls understand, at least in 
some degree, what our Lord meant when 
He bade the disciples to " follow " Him. This 
call came to Peter and Andrew and James and 
John, not when they were idle, but when they 
were busy, perhaps deeply interested in what 
they were doing — some of you may know the 
fascination of fishing — and anxious to continue 
and see the result of their labor. 

Did they hesitate and say: "When we have 
finished our work, we will follow Thee, good 
Master " ? or, " We will try to arrange so as to 
obey Thy command to-morrow " ? No, we read 
in the Gospel that they "straightway" — im- 
mediately — left everything and followed Jesus. 

Now what the Lord said to those disciples by 
the Sea of Galilee more than eighteen hundred 
years ago, He is saying to us all to-day — not only 
to the grown people, but to the girls and boys, the 
children whom He loves so well. Children were 
not thought much of when Jesus was on earth ; 
you will remember that the disciples " rebuked " 

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those who brought young children to their 
Master, for so troubling Him, but the dear Lord 
was displeased with them for their harshness. 
He loved the children, He wanted them to love 
Him and come to Him, and He took the little 
ones right up in His arms, and held them close to 
Him, and laid His hands on their heads and 
blessed them. And being just the same Jesus up 
in heaven as He was oa earth, only glorified, He 
has the same love for children now as then. 

Dear boys and girls, I wish you would take 
this fact into your hearts, for if we are really 
sure that some one loves us, what a difference it 
makes in our feelings towards that person. 
Love begets love, you know; and very soon how 
much more, and how willingly we do for that 
one, and how often — in many cases uncoosciously 
— we imitate — " follow " — and get to be like that 
person. No matter how disagreeable, or difficult, 
or trying the task may be, we will find a way to 
accomplish or endure it; for, as quaint old 
Thomas a Kempis says, " Love maketh all labor 
light." 

Let us once realize the full meaning of this 
love of Jesus for us — the love which brought 
Him from His glory in heaven to suffer and die 
on earth for our redemption, the love which sur- 
rounds and guides and comforts and forgives us, 
at every turn of our lives — and we, too, in our 

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gratitude and love and joy will straightway obey 
His command and follow Him. 

The four who were called that day in Galilee 
followed their Lord even to a cruel death ; in 
these times martyrdom by the cross or sword is 
not required of us, but still He bids us " follow " 
Him. I wonder how many boys and girls are 
trying to do this ? 

The followers of a great man try to be as like 
their leader as they possibly can. How many of 
Christ's young soldiers are like their great 
Leader ? He was gentle and considerate, and 
loving and so patient ; His kindnesses were ever 
ready, and instantly granted, not only to His 
friends but to His foes as well ; truth and holi- 
ness and purity and goodness were His char- 
acteristics — Oh, I hope you are all trying to be 
like Him. 

Try especially in this Lenten season, dear chil- 
dren, which we observe in commemoration of 
those forty days and nights spent by our blessed 
Lord in the wilderness. Should you find it hard 
to give up something that you like, think of His 
unbroken fast in that dreary desert. Should 
temptations assail you, recall His temptations — 
more strong and fierce and subtle than you can 
ever understand — and how He overcame the 
tempter. And should you fail in some duty, 
some task undertaken for His sake, remember 

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that by prayer and supplication He ever maketh 
intercession for us, that He is ever ready to for- 
give and to grant new strength and courage to 
those who turn to Him. 

The same Lord Jesus who says to us " Follow 
Me," says also, " I will never leave you nor for- 
sake you." 



58 



XV 

"Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the 
fulfilling of the law."— Komans 13 : 10. 

ST. PAUL tells us " Love worketh no ill to 
his neighbor." This means that if you have 
love — the blessed love of Christ in your 
heart, you will " hurt nobody by word or deed." 
More than that, that you will be filled with a de- 
sire to do only those things which are unselfish 
and kind to those around you. 

If everybody practiced this law of love what 
happy lives we should all be able to lead. There 
would be no more theft, nor murder, nor back- 
biting, nor lying, nor cruelty, for each one would 
be so full of kindly feeling for the other, that 
only kindly deeds would be possible. 

The kind of love St. Paul speaks of is the kind 
our dear Lord had for us. You remember, chil- 
dren, how patient and gentle He was, how full of 
sympathy and compassion, always ready to help 
any one in distress or sorrow, and how He suf- 
fered and died for us. Just because He loved 
us ! And our Lord passes some of this love and 
its obligations over to us when He bids us " Love 
one another as I have loved you." 

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His love certainly worked no ill to any one, 
and if you are His faithful little servants, your 
love must be of the same kind as His. 

This love will help you to find out and to over- 
come your faults and particular sins. It will give 
you strength to conquer anger and that evil de- 
sire for revenge which springs up in many hearts. 
By this love you will be enabled to keep down 
the little every-day sins, which if not checked soon 
grow into larger ones. People are not born bad, 
you know, dear children — some of the worst 
criminals have been sweet, innocent children — 
but they often grow to be so by letting their lit- 
tle faults go unchecked, and then sometimes there 
comes a terrible ending. 

Cain was the first little boy in the world, and 
I dare say he was sweet and lovable until he be- 
gan to let his little sins go unchecked. You re- 
member he was envious of Abel, and that drove 
all the brotherly love out of his heart, and then 
came the breaking of the law. The first boy al- 
lowed envy and jealousy to drive out love, and 
one day in a fit of anger he became a murderer ! 
Had Cain profited by God's warning he would 
have tried to overcome his envy and jealousy and 
that terrible murderous anger could not have 
taken possession of him as it did. 

Oh, see to it, my boys and girls, that you keep 
this love ever in your hearts, for without that 

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you can never hope to fulfil the law. Love, like 
some other beautiful qualities, only needs culti- 
vating to bring it to a high state of perfection, 
and one delightful and certain thing about it is 
that the more we use it for the benefit of others 
the larger will be our own supply. 

Let the cultivation of this blessed spirit of love 
be one of your daily duties, dear children, and, I 
am sure you will be amazed at the sweet and gen- 
erous return you will get. Practice self-denial, 
and let it benefit some " neighbor " as well as your- 
self. For instance, if during Lent you give up 
some pleasure that allows you a little extra time 
spend that time in helping mother or father, or 
amusing the little ones, or in reading to some one 
who cannot otherwise enjoy that recreation. 

I heard the other day of a girl who put a penny 
into a little box whenever a pleasure came to her 
and when the pennies amounted to twenty-five 
cents, she spent them in giving some one else a 
treat. Sometimes it was a new magazine for one 
who loved to read, but could not afford to buy 
books. Sometimes a little bunch of flowers or 
some fruit for a sick person who rarely had such 
things, and once it was a jar of preserves for 
some boys and girls who seldom got a treat. 

If you are trying to control your temper go a 
step farther, and be good-natured to some one. 
If you are trying to keep from angry, hurtful 

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words, make those that come so gentle and kindly 
that they will comfort and cheer somebody. In 
all that you do or say this Lenten season, remem- 
ber "Whose example you are trying to follow, 
and put your very best into it. 

Give freely of that which your Lord has so 
freely given to you, and He who knoweth the 
temptations and dangers to which you are ex- 
posed, and the frailty of human nature, will give 
you such strength and protection as will carry 
you safely through all. 



62 



XVI 

"But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by 
heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath : but 
let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; lest ye fall into con- 
demnation."— St. James 5 : 12. 

IE" the third commandment God tells us, 
" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." And 
in to-day's text St. James earnestly impresses 
upon us the necessity for great watchfulness in 
this direction. 

Our tongues, dear boys and girls, are very 
small members, but they are most difficult to con- 
trol, and they often make or mar our lives. We 
all know how many times we have made resolu- 
tions not to say such and such words, not to speak 
sharply, not to talk unkindly about any one, not 
to tell an untruth. And we all know, too, alas, 
how our tongues have betrayed us when the mo- 
ment of trial or temptation came. 

Now you know, dear children, the tongue only 
expresses what is in the heart. Our Lord says, 
" Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh," so it is only by guarding well our 
hearts that we can ever hope to control our 
tongues. 

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In the time of our Lord the Jews gave so 
much attention to outward forms that many 
of them had forgotten their hearts had anything 
to do with their worship, and, as might have 
been expected, they fell into evil habits. One of 
these evil habits was that of profanity. They 
swore by heaven, by earth, by Jerusalem, and 
even by their own heads, and considered them- 
selves neither irreverent nor profane because 
they avoided using God's name. But that our 
Lord did not think so is evident by His saying 
to them : 

" Swear not at all ; neither by heaven, for it is 
God's throne : nor by the earth, for it is His foot- 
stool : neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of 
the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy 
head, because thou canst not make one hair white 
or black. But let your communication be, yea, 
yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than 
these cometh of evil." 

This is certainly clear enough for any one to 
understand. The command is given for our 
direction in these days just as much as it was for 
the Jews more than nineteen hundred years ago, 
and I fear many of us need it quite as much as 
ever they did. 

When our Lord bids us let our communica- 
tion be " yea, yea " ; and " nay, nay " He means 
that we should live such good lives, and act and 

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speak so truthfully that it would not be necessary 
to strengthen any statement we might have to 
make by an oath. Of course, this does not apply 
to a judicial oath, that is, an oath taken before 
the civil authorities, for our Lord Himself sub- 
mitted to that. And we must all be careful not 
to use the name of God or of the Lord Jesus 
Christ lightly or carelessly. 

Some boys and girls, not knowing, or perhaps 
forgetting, this command of the Lord's, get into 
the very bad habit of saying, " By Jove " or " By 
George," " Good Heavens " or " Gracious Good- 
ness." Perhaps they do not intend in the begin- 
ning to be profane, but one bad habit is very apt 
to prepare the way for another, and in a moment 
of sudden anger or excitement the name of God, 
or of the Lord Jesus Christ might rise to their 
tongue's end, and be uttered as lightly as was the 
" By George " or " Good Heavens," with which 
the boy or girl began. And so the bad practice 
may end in downright profanity. 

St. James is very emphatic in his warning : 
"But above all things, my brethren, swear not," 
he says, that is, do not take the name of God or 
of your Saviour in vain. " For the Lord will not 
hold him guiltless that taketh His name in 
vain." 

" Swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the 
earth, neither by any other oath " . . . " lest 

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ye fall into condemnation " — for Christ has for- 
bidden it. 

Don't think, boys, that it is manly to swear, a 
true man never does it, and your Saviour, who 
was the only perfect man the world has ever 
known, never soiled His lips with a profane word, 
and He has forbidden your doing it. And you, 
too, girls, don't fancy that it is " grown up " to 
use such expressions as " Good Heavens," " Gra- 
cious Goodness," or worse still " Oh, Lor," which 
sounds so like the name of your Lord; such 
things are not pleasing to God. 

Pray, therefore, for help to live good lives ; 
and to keep your hearts sweet and pure, dear 
boys and girls, and ask for extra grace to control 
your tongues that you say not those things which 
are displeasing to your Lord and Saviour. 



66 



XVII 

u Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal 
life; and they are they which testify of Me."— St. John 5 : 39. 

WHEN people are interested in any great 
man, they try to learn as much about 
him as possible. If he has painted fine 
pictures, and they are anywhere within reach, 
people flock to see them. If he be a great 
preacher or lecturer, how they crowd to the church 
or hall to hear him ; and if he be a gifted writer 
they buy his books eagerly and read them with 
the greatest interest, in the hope that they may 
learn more of the man himself. And should the 
great man have lived and died years ago that 
does not lessen their interest. They read the 
books which may have been written about him 
during his lifetime or just after his death, and by 
studying them carefully try to get a correct idea 
of what the man himself was like. 

In this way the memory of a great man never 
dies ; whatever he has done becomes better and 
better known, and his example is a help or warn- 
ing, as the case may be, to others. 

I am sure that many of you older boys and 
girls must have heard or read of some of these 

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.famous men of olden times whose works still in- 
fluence the world. You all know of gifted Will- 
iam Shakespeare, the greatest of all poets, who 
lived and wrote his wonderful plays more than 
three hundred years ago. Summer after summer 
Americans cross the ocean to visit the little old 
house in the town of Stratford-on-Avon, where 
Shakespeare was born and the church where he 
lies buried. All the information that could be 
procured about the poet has been collected in this 
little town, and is valued because it "testifies" 
— bears witness — to the fact that the man William 
Shakespeare, with his splendid genius, really ex- 
isted. 

When wise, fearless Savonarola was burned to 
death in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, his 
enemies thought they had blackened his reputa- 
tion forever by the wicked lies which they told 
about him. But a few of his faithful followers 
banded themselves together to clear the memory 
of their beloved superior. One of them wrote a 
book, in which he told the true story of the man 
who had done so much for Florence. This book 
and the man's own life " testify " to the honest 
sincerity of the Lombard monk, and one of the 
places of deepest interest to visitors to-day in 
Florence is the spot where Savonarola died. 

And what American is not proud of the dis- 
coveries of Columbus, for they " testify " to his 

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unwearied patience and perseverance, his great 
courage and his faith in God. People's lives tes- 
tify to the qualities that are in them. In this 
way, those who are good and upright and holy 
show it in their words and actions just as surely 
as those who are bad and mean and selfish show 
it by their evil behavior. 

Being famous does not always make people no- 
ble. Napoleon I of France was famous, but no 
one who tells his history truthfully can keep out 
of it the selfish ambition which made him posi- 
tively cruel. A history, to be reliable, should 
tell the incidents of a person's life just as they 
happened, and those incidents will show very 
plainly whether he was a noble or mean man, a 
wise or a foolish one, or a brave or cowardly one. 
And as time passes on those who read of these 
men understand more and more clearly what 
their real characters were. In this way we know 
that for all his splendid genius Shakespeare's 
private life had many serious faults, and that 
Savonarola's strong character was marred by 
pride and bitterness. In all the histories of the 
world there is but one perfect life, one perfect 
man. You know whom I mean, do you not, 
children ? 

" Search the Scriptures," says our Lord Jesus 
Christ. . . . "They are they which testify 
of Me." To testify is to bear witness, and these 

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Scriptures (our Bible) bear witness to the fact 
that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, 
and that His life on earth was the only perfect 
life which the world has ever known. 

As you all know, the Scriptures are divided 
into two parts, the Old Testament and the New 
Testament, and both parts bear witness unto the 
Lord. In the Old Testament, beginning just 
after Adam and Eve first sinned, we find the 
promises of His coming to be the Saviour of His 
people. Here, too, we find prophecies of the 
miracles that He would work when He came, 
and the sad death that He should die. And 
both promises and prophecies have been ful- 
filled. 

In the New Testament is the record of the life 
of our Lord written by some of those who had 
been with Him all through His ministry, and 
who knew the exact truth of what they wrote. 
God inspired them to do it, and the Holy Ghost 
brought to their remembrance all that our Lord 
had said and done while on earth. The story is 
told in such a simple way that even a little child 
can read and understand it. And those who told 
it made no remarks of their own to influence the 
ones who should read, as people are apt to do in 
writing the life of a great man. They simply 
stated the truth as it was and let Christ's beauti- 
ful life speak for itself. And so it has spoken, 

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children, to millions and millions of human 
hearts, as nothing else has done for more than 
nineteen hundred years. 

We all know well the details of that Life, how 
the Son of God put aside His majesty and power 
and came on earth to be born as a poor, helpless 
little baby. We know that as a boy He was 
obedient unto His parents, and that as He grew 
taller and stronger so He became more and more 
filled with heavenly wisdom; and that those 
around Him, as well as His Father in heaven, 
loved Him. We know of His patience with those 
about Him, His meekness, humility and love. 
We know of His gracious words and of the mar- 
velous deeds which accompanied them. We know 
that He not only taught the law of love, but 
practiced it as well, all His life. We know of 
His wonderful miracles, of the never failing love 
which answered to every call for help. We know 
of His great courage and noble unselfishness in 
the terrible hour of the death upon the cross. 
We know of His death, and burial, and we know, 
too, thank God for it ! of His glorious resurrec- 
tion and ascension. 

Christ's life is a perfect one, from beginning to 
end, His life and His works agree, and they are 
a blessed example for all to follow. 

" Search the Scriptures," dear boys and girls, 
for " they are they which testify of " Christ our 

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Lord, and as you read of His beautiful, holy life 
and character, may God fill your hearts and souls 
full of a desire to be pure and gentle and meek 
and loving, even as He is. 



72 



XVIII 

" And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let 
him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." 
—St. Luke 9 : 23. 

EVEEY thoughtful boy and girl will be 
filled with deep and solemn feeling as they 
realize the true meaning of these verses, 
and the application which they have to this day 
and to the week which lies before us. 

As you know, children, Palm Sunday is the 
beginning of Holy Week and in Holy Week we 
commemorate the closing scenes in our Saviour's 
life on earth. On this day, more than eighteen 
hundred years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ entered 
Jerusalem in triumph, surrounded by an eager, 
surging throng of people, who shouted, " Hosanna 
in the highest ! " and worshiped Him openly. 
The sick, the lame, the blind, the dumb and the 
lepers whom the Lord had healed may have been 
among the crowd. And so carried away were 
all by their enthusiasm that they cut branches 
from the palm-trees growing along the roadside, 
and strewed them before Him, and even spread 
their garments in His path. 

On the Thursday night of this last week the 
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Lord's Supper was instituted — in tender remem- 
brance, " until His coming again." 

In the same night was the betrayal, when Judas 
sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver ! and 
later, the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, 
when the sweat of great drops of blood testified 
to the bitter anguish which filled the soul of Jesus 
Christ. When, with the shame, and pain and 
desertion and woe of the morrow before Him, 
and the heavy responsibility of the sins of the 
whole world pressing upon Him, His suffering 
humanity cried aloud to God, " Father, all things 
are possible unto Thee, take away this cup from 
Me." Although when before Pilate the next 
day He added, " To this end was I born, and for 
this cause came I into the world." 

Dear children, as the years roll over your heads 
and trials and sorrows come to you, you will 
realize more and more the blessed comfort of this 
incident in the life of our Lord — this touch of 
suffering human nature which makes us kin with 
the Son of God ! Oh, let us be thankful for the 
Father's goodness to us in the humanity as well 
as the divinity of our Saviour ! 

Then in the early morning of Friday came the 
traitor Judas with a band of Jews, who took 
Jesus prisoner and carried Him away and de- 
livered Him into the hands of His enemies. 

The history of that sacred day is graven upon 
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our hearts — the infamous trial where false wit- 
nesses were brought to swear against the Lord ; 
the mocking and scourging that followed, and the 
insults that were heaped upon Him ; the torture 
of the crucifixion ; the jibes of the heartless ones 
around Him ; the sweet and full forgiveness of 
His prayer for those whose mad vindictiveness 
had brought them to such sin; the solemn 
moment when, our redemption being completed, 
the Saviour bowed His head and died ; and the 
quiet burial in the grave "wherein never man 
before was laid." 

Let the remembrance of all that our Lord has 
done for us go with us through this Holy Week, 
and by its help we shall be strengthened to take 
up our cross and follow Him. 

Boys and girls have crosses to bear as well as 
men and women, and the Lord Jesus requires 
faithfulness from His little soldiers as well as 
from His larger ones. What are some of the 
crosses that children have to bear ? I will tell 
you of one. 

A strong, active boy fell and hurt his spine, 
and he will never be able to stand or to walk one 
step again. Imagine, if you can, dear children, 
what a trial it is to this little fellow to be patient, 
and cheerful and contented, obliged, as he is, to 
sit in an invalid's chair all the days of his life. 
This is his cross. It is a very heavy one, but he 

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has found out where to go for strength to carry 
it daily. And, do you know, I have an idea that 
one end of the cross is fastened up in heaven, so 
that instead of pressing upon the little boy as it 
did at first, it is a way by which he is climbing 
into his Saviour's arms. 

Ill health is a heavy trial for little ones to 
bear, but if those of you who have such a cross 
to bear will ask God's help, dears, He will 
give you strength to take it up and follow Him 
daily. 

There are other crosses — unjust blame is one — 
when we have done our best and it is misunder- 
stood, or our actions are misjudged, or when we 
have to put aside our pleasure or interest that we 
may bear some one else's burden, or to bear shame 
and suffering for Christ's sake. 

Are all my boys and girls bearing their crosses 
in the spirit of their Master ? Oh, I pray so. 
Kemember 

1 ' Who best can drink his cup of woe, 
Triumphant over pain, 
Who patient bears his cross below — 
He follows in His train." 

Let us keep the remembrance of " sad Geth- 
semane " and " cross-crowned Calvary " with us 
throughout this Holy Week. May it help us to 
draw closer to our Lord, and to offer Him the 

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very deepest love and reverence our hearts can 
give, and by following "the example of His 
patience also be made partakers of His res- 
urrection ; through the same Jesus Christ, our 
Lord. Amen." 



77 



XIX 

"And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and 
gave unto them, saying : This is My Body which is given for 
you : this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup 
after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, 
which is shed for you."— St. Luke 22 : 19, 20. 

THE last words that people say and the 
last deeds that they do before they die, 
are always received with earnest atten- 
tion, and remembered with deep, if often sad, 
interest. 

A request made by a dying person is regarded 
as a solemn obligation, and the deeper our affec- 
tion for the one who has been taken away the 
more earnestly do we strive to carry out the dy- 
ing wish. Should there be no last solemn request, 
no particular wish to carry out for our dead — 
notice, nevertheless, children, how much is done 
" in remembrance of " them. 

Churches are built, hospitals are endowed, 
monuments are raised, libraries are founded " in 
remembrance of" those loved ones who for a 
time were with us on earth. Sometimes a stained 
glass window in a church, or a chime of bells, or 
the font, or the organ is what has been given in 
remembrance of some one. And those who are 
unable to do any of these things will often go 

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long distances to lay a flower on the grave of a 
relative or friend as a sign that the memory of 
the dear one is still with them. 

I heard the other day of a little lad who used 
to go to his brother's grave every year on that 
brother's birthday to lay flowers there. The 
distance was great, the little fellow was poor, he 
had to walk part of the way, still he appeared by 
the lonely grave with faithful regularity. When 
some one once asked why he did it, he answered, 
earnestly, 

" Oh, sir, he loved me dearly. We were out 
on the lake over there together in a dreadful 
storm, and the boat upset. Herbie could have 
saved himself, he was stronger than I, and he 
could swim, but he stayed there and held me up 
until help came — then, he was so exhausted, he 
sank and never came up again. As he went 
down he called out, ' Don't forget me, Jim ! ' 
He gave his life for me — do you think I could 
ever forget him ? I think of him constantly, and 
I come here every year on his birthday to plant 
flowers. I always shall, as long as I live, in re- 
membrance of him." 

As you must all know, my dear boys and girls, 
our Elder Brother Jesus Christ gave His life for 
us ; and before He went out to suffer death on 
the cruel cross He made a last request of His 
disciples. It was on this wise : 

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Many years before God had commanded 
through Moses and Aaron that the Jewish 
people should celebrate the feast of the passover 
once a year to commemorate His mercy in the 
passing over them of the angel of death which 
smote the first-born of each Egyptian family 
when the Jews were held in bondage by Pharaoh. 
You will remember, children, that what saved 
them from the destroying angel was the blood of 
a lamb sprinkled upon the lintel, or sides, of each 
door. And the Lord Jesus, who was to be the 
Pascal Lamb for the whole world, and to save 
His people from eternal death by the shedding 
of His blood, fulfilled "all righteousness" by 
celebrating this feast of the passover as His 
Father had commanded. 

Jesus and His disciples had come together in 
an upper room of a house in Jerusalem to par- 
take of the passover. The Lord's ministry was 
very near its end, and though " the twelve " 
knew it not this was the last time that they 
should gather about their Master before His 
death. Before the rising of the morning sun the 
Son of God would be a prisoner in the hands of 
His enemies, betrayed by one of those who now 
sat with Him to eat the passover. Jesus knew 
the suffering and humiliation that lay before 
Him, He knew what a surprise and grief His 
arrest and death would be to these timid, loving, 

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unstable followers of His, and " He was troubled," 
with a trouble which later in the night deepened 
into agony in the garden of Gethsemane. 

"Having loved His own which were in the 
world He loved them unto the end," and there 
was a sorrowful tenderness in His voice as He 
said to the twelve who gathered round Him, 
" With desire I have desired to eat this passover 
with you before I suffer." Then, a little later, 
perhaps, while St. John, the disciple "whom 
Jesus loved," lay on His bosom the Lord told 
His dear ones what they should do " in remem- 
brance of " Him. 

"He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake 
it, and gave unto them saying, This is My body 
which is given for you : this do in remembrance 
of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper say- 
ing, This cup is the new testament in My blood 
which is shed for you." 

Thus it was that our Lord, on the eve of His 
crucifixion, instituted the Holy Communion, that 
all those who truly and earnestly repent of past 
sins " and are in love and charity with " those 
around them, and who intend, with God's help, 
to lead a new life, and to follow His commands, 
might "draw near" to the Lord's Supper and 
partake of it " in remembrance of " " His Death 
and Passion." 

To those who come to the Holy Communion in 
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a meek and humble and loving spirit great are 
the benefits gained thereby. Their hearts are 
drawn closer to their Lord, greater faith is given 
to them, and strength to resist evil. And duty 
to their "neighbors" becomes easier of accom- 
plishment. Remember, too, dear boys and girls, 
that in the Holy Communion we offer and pre- 
sent unto our Lord "ourselves — our souls and 
bodies " — as a sacrifice, and let us strive so to 
live that our offerings may be acceptable unto 
Him. 

And as we fulfil the command, " This do in re- 
membrance of Me," we will pray the Father " to 
accept this our bounden duty and" loving service; 
"not weighing our merits, but pardoning our 
offenses through Jesus Christ our Lord." 



82 






XX 

" The Lord is risen indeed."— St. Luke 24 : 34. 

THE story of the Resurrection, when our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ rose from 
the dead, and by His rising redeemed the 
whole world is well known to you all, dear chil- 
dren. But some of you may not know how many 
times He was seen after His resurrection, nor to 
whom He appeared, and it is well that each little 
soldier of the Cross should be acquainted with 
every particular of this great event. 

Early in the morning of the first Easter Day, 
before the faithful women, who loved Him so 
dearly, could get to the tomb, the angel of the 
Lord — a radiant being with a shining counte- 
nance and dazzling garments — came down, and 
amid the tremor of earthquake, burst the sealed 
cords with which the entrance was secured, and 
rolled the great rock away. And then, while 
the terrified Roman soldiers lay as if dead, the 
Risen One came forth. 

When the women reached the tomb you re- 
member that, greatly to their astonishment, they 
found it open and without a guard — for the ter- 
ror-stricken soldiers had fled to Jerusalem. Mary 

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Magdalene at once returned to the city to ac- 
quaint Peter and John with the strange news, 
and it was while she was gone that the shining 
angel who sat in the tomb gave the women the 
first tidings of their risen Lord. 

Not to Peter or John was vouchsafed the first 
sight of the Saviour, but to Mary Magdalene and 
then to the other women, and by them was a 
message sent to His " brethren," telling them of 
His resurrection from the grave, and that they 
should go into Galilee — which He and they loved 
so well — and there He would meet them. It is 
impossible for us to understand the state of 
terror, unbelief and joy into which this message 
threw the disciples, but this we know, that they 
assembled together that night for the first time 
since the Passover Supper. 

The next appearance was to Peter, probably in 
the garden where the Lord had shown Himself to 
the women. Nothing is told us of this inter- 
view ; but it is like our dear Lord's tender love 
for His erring ones that He should have appeared 
first, of all the apostles, to Peter — poor, unhappy, 
repentant, loving Peter. 

On the same day while two disciples — not any 
of the apostles — were walking to their home in 
Emmaus, a town about eight miles from Jeru. 
salem, talking in low sad tones of the extraordi. 
nary events of the past few days, the Lord met 

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and journeyed with them, but without their 
knowing Him. Drawing from them the cause 
of their sad looks, He then comforted and 
strengthened their hearts by explaining and 
proving to them that what had happened to their 
Master in the last few days was what had been 
prophesied of old should happen to the Messiah. 

The disciples, with true Jewish hospitality, in- 
duced the Stranger to rest and eat with them in 
their home. It was in the blessing and breaking 
of bread that the risen Lord was revealed to 
them, and immediately He vanished out of their 
sight. 

Quickly and joyfully the disciples retraced 
their steps to Jerusalem to tell their wonderful 
story to the apostles, whom they found gathered 
together in an upper room with locked doors for 
fear of the Jews. While they were telling what 
had happened the Lord Himself appeared in their 
midst and uttered the comforting words, " Peace 
be unto you." Terror, joy, and unbelief filled 
the hearts of those who beheld Him ; but with 
the patient tenderness of old He soothed their 
fears, increased their joy and overcame their un- 
belief, proving to them by proofs that cannot be 
disputed that He was indeed the same Jesus 
they had known so well — the Messiah of the 
world — now the risen Lord. 

The next appearance of the Lord was on the 
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same day (Sunday) a week later. For some rea- 
son Thomas had not been with the apostles when 
the Lord appeared to them, and to his mind the 
news that his Lord had risen from the dead was 
too good to be true. He refused to believe until 
he had seen the Lord and handled His wounds ; 
and it was to him specially that the Lord ad- 
dressed Himself at this time. He bade Thomas 
stretch out his hand and touch the wounds in His 
hands, feet and side, and be convinced that He 
was indeed the loving Christ. The voice, the 
tender manner, as well as the indisputable proofs 
of the nail prints in the Lord's hands and feet, 
the wound in His side, brought faith and great 
joy to the doubting apostle. 

The next appearance was to seven of the 
apostles, among them Peter, Thomas, Nathanael 
of Cana, James and John, on the shore of the sea 
of Galilee, when the Lord gave Peter the charge 
" Feed My sheep," " Feed My lambs." 

Some time later the Lord again met His apos- 
tles — and more than five hundred of His disciples 
on a mountain in Galilee ; and in the presence of 
all these witnesses He gave each one the divine 
commission to go out into all the world and 
preach and baptize in His name. 

St. Paul tells us of an appearance of our Lord 
to the apostle James, but no particulars are given 
in the Scriptures. All these appearances took 

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place within forty days after our Lord's resur- 
rection from the dead ; and the last appearance 
was to His beloved Eleven at Jerusalem. 

After instructing them as to what they should 
do when He had gone to His Father, He led 
them out as far as Bethany ; while He was bless- 
ing them — the last tender blessing which they 
should receive from their Lord face to face — a 
cloud enveloped Him and He was taken up to 
His Father on whose right hand He sits, and 
from whence He shall come in great glory at the 
last day. 

By Christ's death on the cross, and His resur- 
rection from the dead the whole world was re- 
deemed ; and as He is, so may we be if we love 
Him sincerely and serve Him faithfully. God's 
mercy is over all His creatures, Christ's love is 
without limit. Eemember all that Easter stands 
to us for, dear children and sing your Alleluias. 
" Praise Jehovah " in all sincerity and truth, with 
joyful and thankful hearts. 



87 



XXI 

" Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life : he 
that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 
And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die. 
Belie vest thou this? "—St. John 10 : 25, 26. 

ON the morning of the third day after the 
Lord was laid in the tomb, the Bible tells 
us that some of the holy women who had 
followed Him through His ministry, and been 
with Him to the end, came to the sepulchre. 

Their hearts were very heavy with grief and 
disappointment. The Master's power had 
seemed so boundless that their vivid imagina- 
tions pictured a very different ending to His 
career than what had happened. They expected 
Him to be a second David — triumphing over His 
enemies — the Komans banished — Israel restored 
to all its ancient glory, and Christ as monarch 
and deliverer." And now their hopes were dashed 
to the ground, and they were filled with despair. 

At the moment when they expected Him to 
assert Himself and claim His kingdom he had 
submitted without a struggle, forbidding His 
disciples to strike even a blow for Him. In 
silence He had suffered all the indignities heaped 
upon Him by His enemies, and they themselves 

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had been witnesses of His agony and death upon 
the cross, and had assisted in laying the Lord's 
cold, still body in the silent tomb. 

The nearness of the Jewish Sabbath made the 
burial a hurried one, and now by the first gleam 
of the dawn Mary Magdalene, and the other 
Mary, the mother of James and John, and an- 
other devout woman came to the sepulchre, 
bringing spices and ointment to prepare their 
Lord's dead body according to the Jewish cus- 
tom. 

On their way they wondered among them- 
selves whom they should get to roll away the 
heavy stone which had been set before the door 
of the sepulchre. But what was their surprise 
when they reached the place to find that the 
ponderous stone had been put aside, and that the 
tomb was open ! As they stood astonished and 
perplexed, wondering what this strange thing 
meant, two men stood beside them — men whose 
radiant faces and white and shining garments 
proclaimed their heavenly origin. 

Filled with fear and trembling, the women 
bowed themselves before these strange visitors. 
But how reassuring were the words which fell 
upon their ears — " Fear not ye," said the angel, 
" for I know that ye seek Jesus which was cruci- 
fied. He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. 
Eemember how He spake unto you when He was 

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yet in Galilee — saying, The Son of Man must be 
delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be 
crucified, and the third day rise again." 

And as the women listened to the words of the 
angel, back to their remembrance came what the 
Lord had so many times told them and all His 
disciples, and they began to understand the mean- 
ing — and returning to Jerusalem told the won- 
derful tidings " unto the eleven disciples and to 
all the rest." 

While the women were on their way, the dear 
Lord Himself met them, and comforted their sor- 
rowful hearts by His gracious words and loving 
touch, bidding them go tell His " brethren " the 
good news that He had risen from the dead, and 
would meet them in Galilee. After this our 
Lord appeared many times to His disciples, walk- 
ing and talking with them, and proving to them 
" by many infallible proofs " that He was the 
same Jesus Christ who had died upon the cross, 
and was risen again from the dead. And by the 
resurrection of our Lord is our resurrection and 
our claim to eternal life made sure. Because our 
Saviour rose from the dead we shall rise, too, and 
whoever believes on Him " though he were dead, 
yet shall he live." 

You understand what this means, do you not, 
dear children ? That if we believe in our dear 
Lord, and love Him with all our heart and soul 

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and strength, and do the things here which are 
pleasing to Him, though we have to lay down 
our lives some day and enter the dark tomb we 
shall also rise from that tomb, like our Master 
and Elder Brother, and through Him attain life 
eternal. Kemember " Whosoever liveth and be- 
lieveth in ' Christ ' shall never die." 

May the peace and joy of the blessed Easter- 
tide sink into our hearts and strengthen us to be- 
lieve in our dear Lord more and more, and to 
show forth this belief by loving Him and follow- 
ing His example while on earth. 

Then when the last summons comes we may 
be able to say with fervent hearts, " Thanks be 
to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 



91 



XXII 

" And all things are of God. . . ."— 2 Coe. 5 :18. 

I 1ST our thoughts we involuntarily associate 
God with all that is grand and noble and 
beautiful and good. We know that He 
formed the earth and the firmament, the sun, the 
moon and the stars. That He raised the moun- 
tains to their lofty heights and sank the abysses 
and ravines to their dismal depths, that He sepa- 
rated the vast bodies of water on the globe from 
those above it, that He caused the green things 
of the earth to grow and flourish. That He 
created animals, and, last and greatest work, that 
He formed man after His own image. 

It is easy to realize that these great things are 
of God. Thoughtful boys and girls will readily 
find many other things that are of God — they 
will say : " Our great country, and her beautiful 
cities, with their fine buildings and elegant resi- 
dences, their wealth and rush of commerce, are 
surely of God. And those who have been a 
blessing and benefit to the world — the poets, and 
artists, and musicians and sculptors, the earnest, 
clear headed thinkers and the brave, fearless 
actors, the patient, loving mothers, and kind 

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fathers, pure-hearted, upright men and women 
and boys and girls — all are of God." 

So they are, dear children, and so are those 
who are not good, and the ordinary and disagree- 
able ones, and the stupid and cross and mean and 
uninteresting ones. You know St. Paul tells us 
"All things are of God." I don't mean that 
God makes people bad or stupid or cross or 
mean — they themselves are responsible for that, 
but I do mean that they are God's creatures. 
He made them, and He cares for them even 
though they are full of faults. And Christ died 
for them just as well as for the holiest and saint- 
liest person that ever lived, therefore we have no 
right to despise them. 

If we would all realize this and act on it, I 
fancy the world would be a much pleasanter 
place to live in, and some people would have far 
less unhappiness. If we would only remember 
that no matter how poor or evil or forlorn or 
wicked any one might be, he or she is still " of 
God " — belongs to Him, and is of value in His 
sight — how differently we would act. 

Through Christ we are members one of another 
— you know our hands and feet and eyes and 
mouth are some of the members of our earthly 
body, we would not wilfully hurt any of these — 
so we, being members of Christ's body should be 
very careful to hurt none of His other members ; 

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and to be very patient and gentle and long-suffer- 
ing with one another. 

" All things are of God," bear this in mind 
my boys and girls, and ask the Lord to help you 
to be most patient with, and kind and consider- 
ate to, those who seem to us to be the least noble 
and attractive of His creatures. And if they 
have strayed from truth and holiness, and purity, 
by our earnest, sincere efforts we may be able to 
bring them back to their Father's care and their 
Saviour's love. 

We should be very, very careful in our judg- 
ments of others, for which of us is able to say 
with certainty that he or she will never commit 
the sin that has brought our brother or sister to 
grief ? And even should that particular sin not 
be one that would tempt us, we each have our 
weak place, and we, too, may go down before the 
fiery dart of the enemy when we least expect to. 

Let us keep well before us the example of our 
dear Lord Christ, His patience, His forbearance, 
His humility, and His love for every creature that 
His Father has made and 

" O God ! to us may grace be given 
To follow in His train." 



94 



XXIII 

1 ' And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and 
to good works."— Hebeews 10:24. 

PEEHAPS some of you will say, " We are 
only children, we're not able to ' provoke ' 
people unto love and to good works." 

My dears, St. Paul does not say in his epistle, 
" This is meant for grown people only." He 
thought we could all do what is required in 
this verse, and our dear Lord knew that we could, 
as an absolute certainty ; and that is why He in- 
spired the apostle to write it. 

"We all, boys and girls as well as grown people, 
possess a mighty power over one another in our 
personal influence, and it is in the exercise of this 
power that we can " consider one another to pro- 
voke unto love and to good works." 

You know, children, we can none of us live to 
ourselves. No one has ever been born into the 
world, and lived and died without influencing 
some one else, in a more or less degree. And as 
we are responsible to God for the results of this 
influence, we ought to regard it as a very solemn 
obligation, and be very careful to exercise it in 
the most helpful way possible. 

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Sometimes we forget or ignore or are ignorant 
of the fact that we influence other people. 

There was a schoolboy who when remonstrated 
with said, "I don't see why I can't do just as I 
please, I'm the only one to suffer if things go 
wrong." 

So he slighted his lessons, and on the sly made 
fun of his teachers and disobeyed the rules, and 
when finally his misdeeds were discovered and he 
was expelled, how many boys do you suppose 
were expelled with him ? Ten ! His bad influ- 
ence had " provoked " them to unkindness and to 
evil works. 

I don't think that boy set himself deliberately 
to work to make those other boys do wrong, his 
unconscious influence was what did it. And this 
unconscious influence is a silent, subtle, and mighty 
force for good or evil. 

It is impossible to estimate the good that may 
be done in the world by a brave, truthful, un- 
selfish Christian boy or girl, not only among those 
of his or her own age, but — let me whisper it to 
you — among older folks as well. That's the way 
of it, you see — one influences another, and that 
other, some one else, and that some one else still 
another, and so on, and on in circles that widen 
until they reach the Judgment Day. 

There is a conscious influence, too, when we 
realize that others may be guided by our opin- 

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ions or actions. For their sake we must be care- 
ful to do, not only what would be right for our- 
selves, but for thern, for you know, children, 
things that might not be hurtful to one of us 
might prove very hurtful to somebody else, dif- 
ferently situated or constituted to ourselves. 

For this reason we must " consider one another" 
by abstaining from even the appearance of evil, 
by being brave enough to speak for the right, 
and by following the blessed example of our 
dear Lord Christ; so that our influence, con- 
sciously or unconsciously exerted, may be one 
that will " provoke unto love and to good works." 



97 



XXIV 

" And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son." — St. John 
14 : 13. 

DO any of my boys and girls remember 
the first prayer they learned ? 
When your baby tongues could scarcely 
lisp the words in which you asked God to bless 
papa and mamma and the other dear ones — 
didn't you ask His blessing " for Jesus' sake " ? 
And have you ever noticed that nearly all the 
collects and prayers used in our church services, 
as well as those in family worship, end with 
" through Jesus Christ our Lord," or " for Christ's 
sake " ? 

Now why do we do this ? What reason have 
we for thinking that God will more readily hear 
our prayer if we ask it in Jesus' name ? 

Listen ; and you will understand why we do 
this, and Who it was that gave us permission to 
" ask the Father in ' His ' Name." 

On that last Thursday night which our Lord 
spent on earth His heart was filled with sorrow 
for the disciples whom He loved so well, and was 
about to leave. He knew the grief and despair 

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that would overwhelm them on the morrow when 
they saw Him in the hands of His enemies, sub- 
jected to insult and cruelty and an infamous 
death, and with the tenderness which He always 
displayed towards them He gave them promises, 
and counsel that were of the greatest comfort to 
them in the after days. 

Our Lord bade His followers not to let their 
hearts be troubled or afraid at anything that 
should happen, only to believe in Him — to have 
perfect faith in Him — and He would " go and 
prepare a place for them," in His heavenly home, 
where, after the toil and trial and suffering of 
life were over, they would be received and 
welcomed by Him. Then He made them that 
great and splendid promise which has been of 
such help and comfort, not only to those to 
whom it was first spoken, but to all in the 
wide world who have loved Him : This is what 
our Lord said : 

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, 
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified 
in the Son." And again the same evening He 
said: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My 
name ; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may 
be full." 

Like all our Saviour's gracious promises, these 
words were spoken for the benefit and comfort of 
all those who in the centuries to come should 

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believe on Him. It was meant for us as well as 
for the disciples, therefore we, too, have a right 
to present our petitions to the Father, in the 
name of the Son. Christ is our Mediator, and is 
ever pleading for us. 

He has borne our human nature, He knows 
our needs as well as our weaknesses, and He gives 
us the gracious permission : " Whatsoever ye shall 
ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father 
may be glorified in the Son." 

This gives us the right to take " everything to 
God in prayer." But we must remember when 
we do so that our prayers should come right from 
our hearts, and that we should not ask for vain, 
foolish things — nor for anything but what we 
absolutely need. We must haVe a strong faith 
in our Lord's mercy and love, and we must 
endeavor to feel no matter what comes, whether 
our prayers are answered in the way we expect 
or not, that He is still our Friend and Mediator. 

Sometimes boys and girls, and grown people, 
ask for things that they should not — things that, 
if they got them, would spoil the lives, here and 
hereafter, of the ones who asked. And though 
the sting of disappointment be strong when that 
which was asked for failed to come, more than 
once, in looking back over their lives thanks have 
been returned to the dear Lord for the blessing 
of that disappointment. 

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We must believe, no matter what trials or 
sorrows come, that Christ knows, better than we 
do, what is best for us, and still intercedes with 
the Father for us. And if we love Christ as we 
ought to do, we will learn to pray only for those 
things that will make us better fitted to keep 
His commands and do good service for Him here 
on earth. 

There are many things that we can ask in 
Jesus' name — for health and strength, for good- 
ness and holiness, for wisdom and patience, for 
blessings on those that are dear to us, and for the 
ability to do good in the world. 

These are only a few of the many things we 
are entitled to ask of our Father in His Son's 
name, and though 

" It may not be my way, 
It may not be your way, 
. . . In His own way the Lord will " 

answer each prayer that is offered to Him in His 
Son's name that so " the Father may be glorified 
in the Son." 



101 



XXV 

" Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him 
go into heaven." — Acts 1 : 11. 

YOU know, dear children, that after our 
Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead He 
remained on earth for forty days. Dur- 
ing this time He was often with the disciples, 
and St. Paul tells us that, besides these, about 
five hundred persons had the blessed privilege of 
seeing and being with the risen Saviour. And 
during this time He proved, " by many infallible 
proofs " — that is, by proofs about which there 
could be no mistake— to all these people that He 
was the same Jesus Christ whom they had seen 
suffer and die on the cross, and laid cold and life- 
less in the tomb. 

He also spoke to them " of the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God," until the day came 
when He should ascend into heaven, and again 
take His place "on the right hand of God the 
Father Almighty." On this day the eleven dis- 
ciples " went away into Galilee, into a mountain " 
called Olivet, where the Lord had directed them 
to meet Him. Here He told them what they 
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should do, desiring them to remain in Jerusalem 
until the Holy Ghost should come upon them. 
After which, having received power, they should 
become " witnesses unto " Him, and should go 
forth even "unto the uttermost part of the 
earth," "and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost." 

They were to teach others "to observe all 
things whatsoever " He had commanded the dis- 
ciples. And as a pledge of His love and ap- 
proval the Saviour promised to be with His 
followers "alway, even unto the end of the 
world." 

Then the Lord "lifted up His hands, and 
blessed " the disciples. " And it came to pass 
while He blessed them, He was parted from 
them, and carried up into heaven." Filled with 
wonder and reverence the men stood gazing 
steadfastly up at the ascending figure of their 
Lord until a cloud received Him out of their 
sight. 

And as they stood thus, perhaps, with hearts 
grown heavy at this second parting from their 
beloved Master, " behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel." 

See the tender consideration of the Lord for 
His disciples — these two white-robed angels had 
come to reassure them — perhaps they were the 

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same shining visitants who spoke to the women 
at the tomb on the resurrection morn. Hear the 
ring of confidence in what they say, 

" Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up 
into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." 

This so comforted " the eleven," that we are 
told they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 
and sought, by constant prayer, to prepare them- 
selves to receive the Holy Spirit, and to become 
apostles where before they had been disciples. 
A disciple is one who learns from or follows the 
example of another, while an apostle is a person 
who has some very high and important message 
to give or business to execute. 

" The eleven " had for three years been learn- 
ing the lesson of love taught by their Master, 
they had had the benefit of His blessed example, 
and now they were entrusted with the telling of 
the greatest message the world has ever received. 
We know that, by the grace of God and through 
the love of Christ, they were strengthened to do 
the work their Lord had set them. 

We, too, have this message to tell, we, too, can 
be Christ's apostles if we " set our affections on 
things above " — that is, if we try to love the 
things which belong to the kingdom of God more 
than we do the things of the world. 
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Our Lord tells us, " where your treasure is, 
there will your heart be also," and we all know 
how very true this is. Where the person or 
thing is that we love best, there do our constant 
thoughts turn, and there do we long to be. Now, 
if we love Christ best of all, He will be our treas- 
ure, and as He is in heaven, naturally, our con- 
stant thought and strongest efforts will be in that 
direction. 

By setting our affections on things above, we 
shall grow to be more like Christ, and therefore 
better fitted to be His apostles and to help others 
to become so. Our Lord's ascension was unex- 
pected, so will be His return to judge the earth. 
We know not at what hour or day He will come ; 
let us, therefore, so use the time given us here, to 
tell the blessed story of His love, that no matter 
when He appears we shall be ready to render an 
account of our work. 



105 



XXVI 

" Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in ns, 
because He has given us of His Spirit." — 1 John 4 : 13. 

LAST Sunday we talked of the ascension 
of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, and 
of His instructions to His disciples before 
leaving them, and to-day we read of the coming 
of the Holy Spirit which our Lord had promised. 
From the Bible we learn that the disciples re- 
turned to Jerusalem as the Master had com- 
manded, and sought by constant prayer to make 
themselves worthy of the holy baptism which 
was to come upon them, though in what way 
this wonderful gift was to be given they knew 
not at that time. 

Just ten days after the ascension of our Lord, 
and fifty days after His resurrection from the 
dead, occurred the Jewish feast called Pentecost. 
This feast was one of the great religious festivals 
of the nation. The people were required to 
gather together in Jerusalem to return thanks to 
God for the harvest, and devout Jews from all 
parts of the, then, known world had come to the 
holy city for the occasion. It was also the first 
day of the week — the Lord's day — and His fol- 

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lowers were assembled together in one place to 
pray and to worship and give thanks to Him. 
And suddenly a strange sound fell upon their 
ears — a sound " as of a rushing, mighty wind " 
which " filled all the house where they were sit- 
ting." With this strange wind came " cloven 
tongues like as of fire," and these fiery tongues 
rested upon each one of the apostles, and they 
were filled with the Holy Ghost. 

You will remember, children, that the Lord 
Jesus told the disciples on Mount Olivet : " Ye 
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is 
come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto 
Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth." And behold ! when the Holy Spirit had 
come upon the disciples, all their timidity and 
ignorance left them and they stood forth boldly 
to bear " witness " unto their Lord, speaking 
those things which the Spirit put into their 
hearts to say. They spoke, not only in their own 
language as they had been used to speak, but in 
as many foreign tongues as there were people 
present. So that everybody understood the 
wonderful message that was being told. 

The news of this great miracle flew in every 

direction, and people hurried from all parts of 

the city to hear for themselves. Among them 

were the strangers who had come up to the 

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Feast of Pentecost, and to their great astonish- 
ment, every man heard the message of salvation 
delivered in his own tongue ! 

Now some of those who listened had known 
the apostles as ignorant Galileans, hardly able to 
speak their own language, and they knew not 
what to make of this marvelous occurrence. Some 
in the crowd were filled with awe and admiration, 
while others mocked. 

But nothing daunted, the apostles spoke out 
with earnestness and power " the wonderful 
works of God " : How that because He so loved 
the world God had sent His beloved Son upon 
earth, in the form of a man, to live among men. 
And how, because He was filled with love and 
compassion for the children of men, Christ had 
suffered and died on the cross, and risen again 
that they might be redeemed. And as they 
heard the wonderful story of the Cross, the 
hearts of these men were touched to the quick. 
The Bible tells us that " about three thousand 
souls " were brought to believe in Christ that day, 
and " they that gladly received the word were 
baptized." 

It was the Spirit of God in the disciples that 
gave them the courage and power to tell the 
story of redemption and to bring others to love 
their Master. This Holy Spirit is the third per- 
son in the Godhead — you know we worship the 

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Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. And He 
it is that dwells within us, and gives us the 
power to think sweet, holy thoughts and do 
Christlike deeds. He teaches us to be truthful 
and holy, and to be brave for Christ ; and He 
helps us to pray as we ought to. He is the Com- 
forter who abides with us forever, who teaches us 
all good things, and keeps alive in our memory 
all that our Saviour has commanded us. 

We must not grieve or offend the Holy Spirit, 
and we are solemnly warned not to sin against 
Him. Our Lord tells us : " Whosoever speaketh 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven 
him, neither in this world, neither in the world 
to come." Oh, may we have light given "us by 
the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all 
things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy com- 
fort, through the merits of Christ Jesus our 
Saviour. Amen." 



109 



XXYII 

" Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you. And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
end of the world. Amen."— St. Matt. 28 : 19, 20. 

OUR Lord's little band of faithful follow- 
ers had gathered together in the moun- 
tain in Galilee, where He had bidden 
them meet Him ; and this was His last command 
to them before He ascended into heaven. How 
curious the first part of the command must have 
sounded to their ears — " Go ye therefore, and 
teach all nations." Not a handful of people in 
Jerusalem, not even the Jewish people in Pales- 
tine, but " all nations." That was a large com- 
mand, children, and at the time it was given 
there seemed to be small hope it would ever be 
fulfilled. 

The Saviour had gone away to His Father in 
heaven, and of those who had been with Him 
during His ministry on earth there remained but 
a few faithful ones. The scribes and Pharisees, 
no doubt, would have laughed to scorn the idea 
of these ignorant Galilean fishermen going out 
into the world to " teach all nations " the saving 

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power of the Messiah whom they had refused to 
receive. But, impossible as it then appeared, the 
Lord's command has been fulfilled, and many 
more nations than were dreamed of then have 
been taught Christianity and baptized " in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost." 

After the Holy Ghost had come upon the 
disciples and brought to their remembrance all 
that our Lord had said and done we read that 
" they went forth and preached everywhere." 
All timidity and hesitation were gone, and these 
first missionaries bore themselves bravely. St. 
Peter and St. James and St. John preached to 
the Jews and the Greeks. St. Peter is supposed to 
have been the one who founded the church in 
Antioch, while St. Thomas carried his missionary 
work into India. Here he taught and baptized 
and finally met a martyr's death. 

The way in which the "good tidings" were 
spread abroad was, perhaps, not always the one 
which the disciples might have planned, but you 
know, dear boys and girls, God's ways are not 
like our wa}^s. Sometimes they may seem very 
hard to us — hard to understand, hard to endure 
— but that is only because " now we see through 
a glass darkly." By and by when we stand in the 
light of God's presence and look back we shall 
see that each thing has fitted into the other in 

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the pattern of our lives to work what was best 
for us. You remember the story of the little 
maid who sat, day after day, weaving a piece of 
tapestry. From the side on which she sat the 
pattern looked broken and the colors inhar- 
monious ; the little maid felt sure the artist who 
designed it had made mistakes, but when at last 
her task was ended and she was permitted to look 
at her life's work from the right side she was lost 
in wonder at the beautiful pattern and the per- 
fect manner in which the colors all blended. So 
it will be with our lives, by and by — in the mean- 
time we are the weavers, God the designer, and 
we must trust Him that the pattern is right. 

Perhaps St. Peter had fears that the pleasure- 
loving Greeks in the gay city of Antioch would 
laugh and deride the little band of believers 
which he had left there to " teach and baptize." 
But for all that the first Gentile church was 
founded in Antioch, and there the followers of 
Christ were first called Christians. 

When St. James the Just was put to death by 
cruel Herod, the hearts of the Christians at 
Jerusalem may have grown faint and downcast, 
but the Gospel work did not stand still. The 
calm faith with which St. James laid down his 
life for his Master made him a shining example 
to those who were left, and the blessed work of 
" teaching and baptizing " still went on. 
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"When St. Paul was sent a prisoner to Rome it 
but extended his missionary work among the 
Gentiles. He there had opportunities to teach 
and to baptize which spread the Gospel of Christ 
throughout Europe — opportunities that could 
never have come to him had he remained in 
Palestine. And in the long years spent by 
St. John in captivity in the Isle of Patmos, he 
was still working for Christ. It may not have 
been what he planned to do for his Master, 
but God knows best what each one can do, and 
it was while St. John was a lonely prisoner in 
that little island off the southwestern coast of 
Asia Minor that he wrote the book of Revelation. 
Here, too, he wrote his Epistles, which have been 
of such comfort to men and women and boys and 
girls for many centuries, and which have helped 
in no slight degree to " teach " many and bring 
them to be baptized " in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." How 
was it, children, that such great success attended 
the disciples' work ? 

Because Jesus had promised, " Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
And it was this sustaining power which enabled 
(and still enables) His followers to achieve vic- 
tory even when failure seemed imminent. 

Now, children, this command of our Lord's is 
meant for us as well as for the disciples. We are 

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Christ's messengers as well as they, and we, too, 
can " teach," if not " all nations," at least those 
around us to believe " in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." 

You ask, How can we teach them ? 

By observing " all things whatsoever " Christ 
has commanded us. 

Example has a wonderful power, boys and 
girls, it influences people a great deal more than 
words could do. Let us do our teaching by our 
example. Let us try so to live that our example 
may " teach " those we come in contact with that 
we are " the children of God," and in this way 
we may be able to bring them to be likewise. 

And if things seem to go wrong sometimes, 
and the pattern of our lives looks crooked to us, 
we will not be discouraged. We will remember 
that it will all be right some day, in God's own 
way and time, for He " is Love " and Christ is 
with us " alway, even unto the end of the world. 
Amen." 



1M 



XXVIII 

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame ; He remem- 
bereth that we are dust."— Psalm 103 : 13, 14. 

A MAN well advanced in years once said to 
me, "In looking back over my boyhood 
and early manhood, I am struck with the 
allowances that my father made for me, the ten- 
der consideration he always showed, and his love 
and sympathy for me under all circumstances — 
though I know that sometimes I must have tried 
him greatly." 

Now just think of your own fathers, boys and 
girls, and see if you don't find in them these same 
traits — the same willingness to overlook and for- 
give your offenses, the same tenderness, com- 
passion and sympathy. 

How thoughtful and considerate a father is of 
his girls, how many allowances he makes for his 
boys. Why ? " Because he loves us," you will 
say. And you are right. Should he have to 
scold or even to punish you for naughty behavior 
or disobedience you still feel sure of his love and 
protection. Why should you be so sure of this ? 
" Because we are his children," you answer. " Be- 
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cause he knows us — we belong to him." And 
again you are right. He loves and cherishes you 
and is very kind to you because you are his ; he 
understands you and makes allowances for your 
disposition, your dulness, your faults as no one 
else could or would — because he is your father. 

And in this same way, the Psalmist tells us, 
God pities — has compassion on, makes allowances 
for — all those who are trying to serve Him. 

We are all God's children, you know, and He 
understands and makes far more allowance for us 
than any earthly father could do. He knows our 
natures and all our weaknesses — that one has a 
quick temper, another an unruly tongue, that this 
one finds it hard to speak the truth, that another 
is jealous, and that still another is selfish, and so 
on through the many sins that so often take up a 
lodging in our hearts, and He sees just how much 
or how little in earnest we are in overcoming 
them. 

Now you might think that because God is such 
a great and wonderful King — King of kings and 
God above all other gods — He would not care for 
these poor, earthly children of His who so often 
do what they ought not to do, and leave undone 
that which they ought to have done. But there 
you would be mistaken, for He loves us all, even 
the wicked ones, very dearly, so dearly, in fact, 
that He sent His only begotten Son to earth to 
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die on the cross, in order that all the people in 
the world might be saved. 

The very way in which God did this shows 
His thoughtful love and tender consideration for 
His earthly children. 

You know, dears, our Lord Jesus could have 
come to earth and gone from it as a great King, 
with glory and honor, and magnificence, without 
having to endure poverty and sorrow and suffer- 
ing and death. But God knew — and so did the 
dear Saviour— that always the majority of His 
children in the world would be poor, and that 
sorrow and suffering and death must be the com- 
mon lot of all; so His Son came as a little baby, 
as helpless and dependent upon His mother as 
you or I have been on our mothers, or as the 
babies you know are on theirs. He was poor 
from His birth to His death. As a boy He 
worked in Joseph's carpenter's shop, as a Man 
He had not where to lay His head. He lived, 
worked, suffered and died like any other human 
being — why, children ? 

That He might understand, by actual experi- 
ence, the life of His Father's earthly children, 
and so become their Elder Brother in very truth. 

Nothing makes one realize another person's 

sorrow or trial so thoroughly as to have gone 

through that particular sorrow or trial one's self. 

So we may be always sure of the love and sym- 

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pathy and help of Jesus in everything that comes 
to us in our daily lives. Kemembering, therefore, 
from day to day, that we are God's children, that 
Jesus is our Elder Brother, let us take everything 
to the throne of grace — our joys and sorrows, 
our victories and our failures, our hopes and fears, 
feeling sure of sympathy and help. 

Should temptation assail, or sin overtake us, 
we will, in our penitence, not be afraid to ap- 
proach our Father, for, " Like as a father pitieth 
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear 
Him." And, if we ask for it, we are sure of par- 
don, " For He knoweth our frame ; He remem- 
bereth that we are dust." And beside Him is 
our Elder Brother, ever pleading for us. 



118 



XXIX 

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice 
and be glad in it."— Psalm 118 : 24. 

IT seems to me, dear children, that this is a 
verse we should learn and lay specially to 
heart, for, as you no doubt all know, there 
are days and days, in every one's experience — 
good days and bad days. 

On some days everything goes smoothly ; the 
weather is fine, one wakes up in good time, and 
in a good humor, dressing is no trouble, breakfast 
is enjoyed, lessons almost say themselves ; every- 
body is agreeable, and things go just as one 
would like to have them ; how easy it is, then, to 
agree with the Psalmist, that God made that day, 
and to be happy, contented and thankful in it. 

But there are other days — I am sure we all 
know them— when, from the time we open our 
eyes in the morning, until we close them at night, 
everything seems to go wrong. 

The weather, perhaps, is so dark and dreary 
that it requires a positive effort to rise and dress ; 
there are tangles in one's hair, and tangles in 
one's temper on such mornings. And before 
breakfast is over, other members of the family 
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have been infected — nothing is so catching as 
surliness and ill-temper. Lessons and our usual 
tasks become a burden, schoolmates and friends 
are cross or indifferent, cold looks, sharp words 
and disappointments come fast, one on the heels 
of the other, and at the end of the day there is 
naught to look back upon but mistakes and 
grievances and shortcomings. I fancy that not 
many people stop then to remember that God 
made that day, and to be thankful for it. And 
yet He did make it, and the obligation to " rejoice 
and be glad in it " was just as strong as it was 
for the other — happy — day. 

God makes every day, the rainy day and the 
day of sunshine, the day of trial and the day of 
happiness, and we should not forget that. It is 
very easy, you know, to be bright and smiling 
and happy and thankful when all goes well — the 
thing is to be all these on the dark days, and in 
the time when matters do not go to suit us. 

I know boys and girls — perhaps you, too, know 
such — who fret and fume and make themselves 
and everybody around them sad and uncomforta- 
ble, because the weather is not as they would 
like it. Perhaps the rain falls when they would 
like to go out, perhaps some little household duty 
has to be fulfilled before a pleasure can be en- 
joyed, perhaps a friend or schoolmate is more 
correct, more successful or more popular, and be- 
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hold ! these young people declare that " the day 
is just spoiled ! " They become cross and gloomy 
and very disagreeable, and so the day is spoiled 
— but entirely by themselves. 

God makes each day and no matter what it 
brings — good weather or bad, trials or pleasures, 
disappointments or joys, we may be sure it is 
just what is best for us. Let us once get this 
well into our heart and mind, children, and it will 
not be so hard to be bright and cheerful each day. 

Trials come to all, you know — it is the com- 
mon heritage of humanity. The king and the 
beggar, the rich and the poor, the wise and the 
foolish, all must face them. Even God's own 
dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, when He took 
upon Him the nature of a man, had to meet and 
endure trials. Days came to Him, dreary with 
deeds of enmity and spite, of oppression and cru- 
elty, of desertion and murder and death — dark 
deeds worked against Him by some of those whotn 
He had come to save. But do you suppose that 
because of these trials He considered the day was 
" spoiled " ? 

No, for He knew that each day was the day 
His Father had made, and that, no matter how 
thick and fast disappointments, sorrows or griefs 
came, there were yet sure to be in it opportunities 
— or at least an opportunity — to speak some 
helpful word, or do some kindly deed. 
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You know, my dears, these days, separately 
though they come to us, make up the sum of our 
life, and once a day slips away from us, we cannot 
live it over, no matter how we might long to. 
So try to realize, as the Psalmist did, that each 
day is the day that the Lord hath made, and bear 
cheerfully — as a Christian should — all that comes 
to you in it. 



122 



XXX 

"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it 
is that loveth Me : and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My 
Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." 
—St. John 14 : 21. 

ONCE upon a time there was a little girl 
who hated to study French (perhaps 
some of my little readers can sympathize 
with her). 

" The verbs are so horrid," she would declare 
sometimes. " I know I shall never be able to get 
them all into my head." 

One day Elsie's mamma and papa were called 
suddenly away from home. There was only time 
for a few hurried words before they left to catch 
the steamer, but mamma's last remarks made a 
deep impression on the little girl. 

" Dear little daughter," she said, earnestly, " I 
am obliged to leave you and I cannot say when 
I shall be back. While I am away I want you 
to keep right on with those French verbs. I 
know they seem difficult to you, but I know also 
that you can do them if you will only go at them 
in earnest. If you love me you will try to ac- 
complish as much as possible while I am away." 

"I will try, mamma," promised Elsie. And 
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bravely she kept her word, though it was very 
hard sometimes to do so. 

The verbs were so dry and uninteresting that 
frequently she was tempted to give them up in 
despair. But love for her mother kept her at 
them until one day the dear ones unexpectedly 
came home, and you may imagine how surprised 
and delighted Elsie's mamma was to find how 
much her little girl had learned while she was 
away. 

"Now I know that you love me," she said, 
" by the way in which you have obeyed me while 
I was absent from you." 

It was love that gave little Elsie the persever- 
ance and patience necessary to learn those French 
verbs, and it is love for Christ that will help you, 
dear children, to keep His commandments. You 
know love is a mighty power, greater than any 
other in the world. Under its influence the weak 
and timid have been known to become strong 
and brave, and the fierce and cruel mild and 
peaceful, and the stern and unforgiving, gentle 
and forgiving. 

Jesus Christ loved us with such a great and 
marvelous love that He came from heaven to 
earth and suffered shame and sorrow and death, 
that through Him we might receive salvation, 
and all He asks in return is that we shall love 
Him. With love for Christ comes also a desire 
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to do those things which will please Him, and 
then, unconsciously perhaps, we begin to keep 
His commandments. 

Thomas a Kempis tells us that this divine 
love " makes everything that is heavy, light : and 
it bears evenly all that is uneven . . . and 
makes everything that is bitter, sweet." He also 
tells us that " the noble love of Jesus impels a 
man (or boy or girl) to do great things, and stirs 
him up to be always longing for what is more 
perfect." And between the words " He that hath 
My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is 
that loveth Me " we seem to hear our Lord say- 
ing, "I know it will be hard sometimes, little 
soldiers, to follow after Me ; to bear all things, 
believe all things, hope all things, and endure all 
things, but nevertheless if ye love Me with even 
half the love with which I have loved you, ye 
shall have strength given you to obey all My 
commands." 

Remember, dear boys and girls, that your love 
is more acceptable to Christ than any other offer- 
ing you can make Him. And that love will help 
you to be patient and gentle, and holy, and 
unselfish, it will help you to be brave and honest 
and yet tender and humble. 

This love for Christ brings us a rich reward, 
too ; hear what our Lord says : " And he that 
loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I 
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will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." 
The love of God the Father Almighty thus rests 
upon all those who love the Son, bringing to 
them "the peace which passeth all understand- 
ing." 

Besides loving us Christ has promised to " mani- 
fest " Himself to those who keep His command- 
ments, that is, He will make His life and love 
and meaning so clear to us that we shall be 
strengthened to fight well the battle of life and 
to become " more than conquerors through Him 
that loves us." 



126 



XXXI 

"I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in 
Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for 
without Me ye can do nothing." — St. John 15 : 5. 

SOME years ago while visiting in Pennsyl- 
vania I saw a wonderfully fine grape vine. 
It started in a remote corner of a large, 
old-fashioned garden, and ran up and all across 
the high wall which enclosed the charming flower- 
lined walks and miniature lake. The trunk of 
the vine was sturdy and so large that a grown 
person's extended arms could scarcely encircle 
it, and innumerable branches ran out in every 
direction. 

With interest I followed the course of the vine 
along the wall. Every leaf looked strong, and 
green and vigorous, and great clusters of grapes 
hung in every direction ; some pale green, some 
pink and some purpling under the warm rays of 
the yellow sunlight. 

" What a splendid vine," I said to the old 
gardener who stood near. " Ever} 7 bit of it seems 
full of life and to be doing its work well." 

" All but that piece," he answered, pointing to 
a branch which, high up on the wall, had escaped 
my notice. 

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Then I saw that this piece of the vine had be- 
come detached from the rest, that the leaves 
were withered, and the fruit dried up, while the 
stalk of the bough was blackened and dry. 
" What a pity ! " I exclaimed. " Can you do 
nothing for it ? " 

The old man shook his head sadly. "Not 
now," he replied. "As long as that branch 
was a part of the vine, the grand old root nour- 
ished it, and the clusters of fruit at this end were 
among the largest on the wall. But all that 
stopped when the branch separated from the 
main vine, and, as you see, it is now fit for 
nothing but to be torn down and thrown into 
the fire." 

So it is with ourselves and our Lord Jesus 
Christ, dear children. He is the Yine, we are 
the branches, and as long as we love Him, and 
let Him guide our lives by following His com- 
mands, just so long shall we be able to bring 
forth the kind of fruit which proves that we 
belong to the Yine. But when we separate our- 
selves from Him — when we break His laws and 
forget to be patient and kind and helpful to 
others, and to lead holy lives — then there is 
danger that we shall become like the piece of 
the grape vine I saw, dry and useless to our- 
selves and to those around us. 

As the strong, vigorous root supplied the many 
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branches which belonged to it with life and 
strength as long as they remained a part of it, 
so does Christ, our Eoot, "the root of Jesse" 
and the Son of God, keep us alive in all good 
things as long as we love and cling to Him. In 
fact He cares for us always, and we are the ones 
who put the distance between us. 

Kemember this, my dears, Christ never puts us 
from Him, and it grieves Him when by naughti- 
ness or evil behavior we separate ourselves from 
Him. Have you never noticed that a boy or 
girl who has been naughty will avoid father's 
or mother's eyes until he or she has had courage 
to confess the wrong-doing ? It is this same 
spirit in us that separates us from Christ, until 
we confess our sin to Him and are forgiven — we 
are the ones that put Him from us, not He to 
separate Himself from us. 

Our Lord says : " I am the vine, ye are the 
branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in Him, 
the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without 
Me ye can do nothing." Now there are many 
ways in which we may show that we are living 
branches of the great Yine, but we shall have 
space to speak of only one way to-day. 

With Christ's help we can each of us lead a 

holy life. Some boys and girls (some grown 

people, too) imagine that to lead a holy life one 

ought to go away from all bustle or excitement 

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to a quiet place, and give one's whole time to 
prayer. But this is a mistake — you remember 
our Lord's prayer for His apostles was, not that 
they should be taken out of the world, but that, 
God should "keep them from the evil" in the 
world. That is, that He should give them the 
courage and strength and parity needed to lead 
a holy life, right in the world — among the temp- 
tations and dangers and trials that, then as now, 
made up every-day existence. 

With these qualities within us we can be holy 
wherever we are, at home, or at school or at 
business, provided we remember that we are 
branches of the great Yine Christ Jesus, and ask 
for help to resist evil. As the branches of the 
grape vine reach out in all directions, testifying 
to the strength and vigor of the root from which 
they spring by the fruit they bear, so may we 
testify to our Lord wherever we are, by the kind 
of life we lead. 

Without Christ we can do nothing, with Christ 
we "can do all things." Knowing this, we will 
ask Him to " come in and abide with us," that so 
we may have grace to be holy, even as He is holy, 
and to prove ourselves living branches of the 
True Yine. 



130 



XXXII 

"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of 
the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a 
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. " — 1 Tim. 4 : 8, 9. 

THEEE are, I am sure, very few among 
my boys and girls but know what a 
bridge is and have seen one — perhaps 
several. 

You know bridges are built of wood, stone, 
brick or iron, and they vary in size from the nar- 
row plank laid across the tiny stream to the 
mighty structure that spans a great river. There 
is a bridge over the river Tay in Scotland, which 
is so long and so wide and strong, that it is con- 
sidered a wonder of engineering skill. Those of 
you that live out West may have passed over the 
long bridge that is thrown across that wide, noble 
body of water known as Sandusky Bay, and some 
of you that live in New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
are familiar with the wooden bridge — I think it 
is of wood — that holds its way through Newark 
Bay, and the boys and girls of New York and 
Brooklyn are familiar with the beautiful and 
graceful bridges that span our East Eiver. 

You must all know how useful bridges are — we 
couldn't get on without them. Those of you that 
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can, just watch the stream of people, vehicles 
and horses that pours so steadily across the 
Brooklyn bridge at all hours of the day, and that 
will give you an idea of its value to the two cities 
which it connects. 

I asked a little boy, the other day, what bridges 
were for. "Why," he said, opening his bright 
eyes at me as if surprised at my asking such a 
foolish question, " why, so people can get from 
one place to the other — of course ! " And then I 
wondered whether Jamie or any of my boys and 
girls knew that they were, each one, building a 
bridge, and a bridge of far greater importance 
than any of wood or stone or iron could ever be. 
By these bridges that we are building — for 
grown people are at it, too — we hope to get 
" from one place to the other," that is, from this 
world to heaven. 

You didn't know there was any bridge from 
earth to heaven ? Well, there is, my dears, and 
each one of us makes the way over which he goes 
and makes it as he goes along. 

This work of bridge building is from day to 
day, it does not end ; that is, the bridge is not 
finished until the builder draws his last breath on 
earth — you know — until he dies. 

Perfect faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and a 
deep, strong love for Him are the abutments of 
this bridge — you know what abutments are, don't 
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you ? They are the solid part of a bridge which 
rests on the land, and supports the span. To 
make a wood or stone or iron bridge of any serv- 
ice, the abutments must be very strong. And 
this is especially so of the bridge which each of 
us is building to heaven — our faith and love in 
our dear Lord must be very strong and very sin- 
cere, for all depends on that. Once this is secure, 
the rest of the structure — I mean the span by 
which we are to reach the other side — is not so 
difficult. 

Instead of this span or roadway being made of 
wood or stone or iron, which must wear out in 
time, we make it of kindly thoughts, of gentle, 
helpful words, of loving deeds, of cheerful self- 
sacrifice, of patient endurance, of tender consider- 
ation, of true humility, of courage to speak the 
truth, and of strength to resist evil, all of which, 
as you know, last forever. Now you under- 
stand about this bridge, don't you, children ? 

Our " godliness " — the nearness with which we 
follow God's commandments, the love in our 
hearts for Jesus, the help we can be to those 
around us — in fact, every good incident in our 
daily lives takes us nearer and nearer to heaven. 
And in the same way ungodliness — disobedience 
to God's laws, f orgetfulness of the dear Lord who 
died for us, and evil living take us farther and 
farther from heaven. That's the sad part of this 
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bridge building, boys and girls, some are build- 
ing down instead of up — away from, instead of 
toward, God. Some are doing it through igno- 
rance or carelessness, and some, alas ! wilfully. 

Let us all try to remember the faithful and ac- 
ceptable saying which St. Paul wrote to Timothy, 
that godliness — love of God, following after the 
pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ — helps us in all 
things ; not only to live holy Christian lives here 
on earth, but finally to attain life eternal. 

Oh, see to it, dear children, that you each build 
your bridge with the very best material that you 
have ; fashion it strong and firm with faith and 
love, and make it beautiful with unselfish and 
tender and helpful deeds — remember, that though 
your roadway shall stand for eternity you can 
pass over it but once. 



134 



XXXIII 

' ' So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one 
members one of another." — Romans 12 : 5. 

OUR hands and feet, and arms and legs are 
some of the members of our bodies, and 
we all know, children, how obedient they 
are to our will when we are well and strong. 

A wish arises in our minds to walk or run or 
climb, or to spread our arms, or toss a ball, and 
in a twinkling our legs and arms and hands and 
feet carry out the design. A thought flashes into 
our mind and almost before we have realized it is 
there our tongue — another member — has ex- 
pressed it in words. 

Our members work together, and are depend- 
ent one on the other — for instance, the arm 
needs the hand just as much as the hand needs 
the arm, to complete its usefulness. Foot and 
leg are used equally in walking ; our eyes are in- 
valuable in supplying sight; but we must still 
depend on our ears for hearing. All these mem- 
bers form one body, and all work in unison for 
our use ; " So we, being many, are one body in 
Christ, and every one members one of another." 
I hope you all understand what this means, 
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children. Baptism, as you know, makes each one 
of us " a member of Christ," or " one body in 
Christ," as St. Paul expresses it, and this being 
so, we should try to find out which member we 
are and to do our work well. 

People are not all alike — I am sure you must 
have noticed that — some are very intellectual, 
some are musicians, some are painters, others are 
inventors, and builders, and sweet singers, and 
great speakers ; and all these good gifts may help 
their possessors to be very efficient members of 
Christ, if the gifts are used in His service. 

Then again there are other people who have 
no great gifts, but they are members all the same. 
And if they work for the Master, they are of just 
as much importance to Him as the more brilliant 
ones — you remember, fingers and toes are as nec- 
essary to the body as hands and feet, and the ears 
and nose as the eyes ; each must do its part well 
to make the whole complete. The thing is for us 
to find out what we can do, and then to do it faith- 
fully and thoroughly. 

We can't all be great members ; but, knowing 
that His smaller members are just as necessary to 
the Master, we must do our best to fulfil the 
duty which falls to our share, even if it seem to 
us to be an insignificant one. If we are not cer- 
tain what duty is required of us, let us take the 
nearest one, no matter how small, and do it well, 
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until a greater is given us. And if no greater 
trust ever comes to us and our lives seem to be 
made up of very ordinary, every-day duties, we 
will still endeavor to be faithful and of good 
cheer, remembering that 

11 The trivial round, the common task, 
Will furnish all we ought to ask : 
Room to deny ourselves : a road 
To bring us daily nearer God." 

And the clearer we realize that " we, being many, 
are one body in Christ," the clearer will we 
understand that we are also " members one of 
another." 

The members of our body do not war against 
one another — our hands and feet do not hurt each 
other, our eyes do not quarrel with our ears, or 
our ears with our mouth ; so we, being " one body 
in Christ," must think of and try to do our duty 
to those other members around us which are also 
a part of His body. 

St. John tells us that " He that loveth not his 
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God 
whom he hath not seen ? " and our Lord's own 
command is : " Love one another as I have loved 
you." So you see, dear boys and girls, when we 
are patient and gentle with those we meet in our 
daily lives, when we love them and put ourselves 
to trouble to be kind to them, we are fulfilling 
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our Lord's command and in this way offering Him 
the kind of love that pleases Him best. 

We are not strangers to one another, but are 
all, though many, " one body in Christ, and every 
one members one of another " ; therefore let us 
work together in love and unity for the good of 
our fellow-creatures and the glory of our Lord 
and Saviour J.esus Christ. 



138 



XXXIY 

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are 
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set yonr 
affections on things above, not on things on the earth." — 
Col. 3 : 1, 2. 

AS you know, dear children, any great 
honor entails a responsibility. The son 
of a king has to bear himself as befits his 
high station or he is not considered worthy of it. 
More is expected of one who bears an honorable 
name than of one who is of unknown parentage. 
Wiser acts are looked for from a man of wisdom 
than from a fool, and braver deeds from a valiant 
soldier than from one who has had no experience 
of war. So when we are enrolled, by our baptis- 
mal vows, in the grand army of Christians and 
" confess Christ " before men in confirmation and 
in the Holy Communion, we attain a position of 
great honor, and it behooveth us to bear ourselves 
accordingly. 

If we " be risen with Christ " we must " seek 
those things which are above, where Christ sit- 
teth on the right hand of God." You under- 
stand this, do you not, my dear boys and girls ? 
Any one who has the privilege of being a follower 
of Christ should be careful to seek only those 
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things of which Christ would approve, and to set 
his or her " affections on things above, not on 
things on the earth." That is the responsibility 
which accompanies this privilege. 

Now let us consider what it means to set our 
" affections on things above." 

First of all, we must set up a high standard for 
ourselves — we must make a resolve that with 
God's help we will try to be as pure and gentle 
and loving and helpful as our Saviour was, and 
we must carry this into each day of our lives, and 
try to perform each detail in the spirit in which 
our Lord would have done it. By the same help 
we must guard ourselves against caring more for 
the pleasures and vanities of the world than for 
the " things which are above." 

A certain amount of recreation and innocent 
pleasure is proper and necessary for each one. 
God intends us to enjoy ourselves or He would 
never have put us into such a beautiful world as 
this, and there is no record anywhere in the Bible 
that our Saviour was ever gloomy while on earth. 
But He does not want us to put pleasure before 
our love for Him. 

Boys and girls may laugh and talk and play 
as much as they like, provided they do it all at 
the proper time and in the proper spirit — not to 
hurt any one's feelings, so as to do no evil speak- 
ing, not to neglect a duty for a game. We should 
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never allow the things of the world to take such 
hold on us that they push out of our hearts our 
affection for the " things which are above, where 
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." 

We that are soldiers of the Cross know the 
things that we should avoid — even the youngest 
soldier of us knows when he is disobeying his 
Captain's commands. We must never let our 
pleasure interfere with the worship and honor 
due our Lord from us. We must strive to give 
Him of our best — our time, money, love, worship, 
and we must pray with all our heart and soul 
and strength that what we offer may prove ac- 
ceptable to Him. We must be " not faithless but 
believing," and faithful and believing we must 
stand fast and " quit us like men," to do honor to 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 



141 



XXXV 

" Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto 
sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." — 
Romans 6 : 11. 

YOU know, boys and girls, it was because 
He loved us and wanted us to inherit eter- 
nal life that our Lord Jesus Christ left His 
heavenly home and came to earth to suffer and 
die. He did not do this because He was obliged 
to, but because His heart was filled with love and 
pity for " the children of men." 

It was for love of us that Christ suffered the 
betrayal, the agony in Gethsemane, the arrest 
and illegal trial, the mocking, and scourging, the 
heavy weight of the sins of the whole world press- 
ing upon Him, and the crucifixion and death. 
And all He asks of us in return is that we shall 
love Him — with a love that will give Him the 
first place in our hearts and fill us with such a 
desire to keep His commands that we shall be, as 
St. Paul expresses it, " dead indeed unto sin." 
Christ died on the cross that we might die unto 
sin, and rose again from the grave that we might 
be alive unto God. 

For Christ's sake, therefore, let us strain every 
nerve to overcome the sin that meets us at every 
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turn in our lives. For His sake let us strive to 
put out of our hearts everything that draws our 
love away from Him. 

For our Saviour's sake we must love none 
other than Him. We must not worship idols — 
whether the Avorld, or pleasure, or riches be the 
one that appeal most to us. We must not be 
profane. We must keep our Sundays holy. We 
must be gentle and loving and kind to our parents. 
We must bear no envy or hatred or malice in our 
hearts against any one. We must keep our 
bodies pure and holy. We must not steal. We 
must guard our tongues lest they do work for the 
evil one instead of for God. We must not covet 
anything belonging to another — " Hear the con- 
clusion of the whole matter " : we must love the 
Lord our God with all our heart, and with all 
our soul, and with all our mind, and we must 
love our neighbor as ourselves. 

To fulfil these two great commandments we 
must not only " be dead indeed unto sin " but we 
must also be " alive unto God through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." 

Being "alive unto God"— that is, being full of 
love for our dear Lord — is the only way in which 
we shall ever find strength to overcome sin. You 
remember, dear boys and girls, almost the last 
thing which our Lord said, before His Ascen- 
sion, to St. Peter was, " Lovest thou Me ? " He 
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is still asking the same question of each of us 
to-day. 

Oh, may our hearts be so filled with love for 
our dear Saviour and Master that we may be 
able to do those things which please Him, and to 
say with the earnest sincerity of St. Peter — 
" Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou Jcnoioest 
that I love Thee." 



144 



XXXYI 

"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry 
aloud; and He shall hear my voice."— Psalm 55 : 17 

INSTEAD of kneeling to pray, as we do, the 
Jews usually stood, and with bent head and 
extended arms offered praise or petition to 
God. There is a very beautiful picture called 
"The Shadow of the Cross "—perhaps some of 
you have seen it— which represents our Lord 
Jesus standing for evening prayer in the wide 
doorway of the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. 
The ruddy glow of the setting sun lights up the 
interior of the workshop, and throws the reflec- 
tion of the Saviour's figure in bold relief on the 
wall behind Him. He stands with head slightly 
bent and His arms extended in the Jewish atti- 
tude of prayer, and the black shadow behind Him 
has the semblance of a cross. 

No doubt our Lord did pray in that position — 
it was a general custom, which is still met with 
in Palestine. But He also knelt in prayer — in 
the wilderness, and in the lonely mountains to 
which He so often withdrew for private com- 
munion with His Father ; and on that last sad 
night before the crucifixion — that night in 
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Gethsemane — when in His agony of spirit He 
fell upon His knees and bowed His head to the 
earth. 

Besides these occasions Jesus prayed when He 
healed the sick — no doubt standing. And as He 
walked along the roads of Galilee and through 
the streets of Jerusalem, we may be sure that 
many a prayer went up from His heart, if not 
from His lips, to His heavenly Father. 

As you no doubt know, children, it is cus- 
tomary in approaching a great person — a king or 
queen or the President of our own United States 
— to show great respect, both in voice and atti- 
tude. So when we draw near to God, who is 
greater than any earthly potentate, we kneel in 
addressing Him, as that attitude is one of humil- 
ity and reverence. This is right and proper ; but 
the position alone that we take when we pray 
will not ensure our being heard. 

You know God sees more than the outward 
action, He reads the heart, and if that is not in 
the petition that we offer it is of no value to 
Him. Not the attitude we take, not the length 
of our prayer nor the frequency of it, but the 
sincerity we put into it, and our love and faith 
are what draw us really near to God, and bring 
us the certainty that He has heard us. 

And that is what David means when he says : 
"I will pray and He shall hear my voice" — 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

heart, not lip, service is what God would have of 
us, and that can be given at any hour of the day 
or night — whether standing or kneeling or lying 
down. 

A young boy once said to a friend : " I have to 
be so early at business that I have barely time to 
throw on my clothes and get a mouthful of 
breakfast. I really haven't the time to go down 
on my knees to pray." Said his friend, " Under 
those circumstances you could say your prayers 
walking to the station or on the train — God 
knows how you are situated ; He would under- 
stand. It's the heart, not the attitude, God 
looks at." 

So while we all agree that the proper attitude 
for prayer is that of kneeling, there are many 
times during the day — in the school, or office, on 
the street, aye, and on the playground, when a 
short, swift prayer to God would bring us 
strength and courage, and when it might not be 
possible to go on our knees. Never mind the 
attitude at such times, dear children; just send 
up your prayer in your time of need and the dear 
Lord will surely hear and answer. Don't feel 
bound to wait for certain times and conditions to 
make your prayer — let only your need govern 
you in this matter. A short prayer — a few 
words — if even only an earnest, " Oh, God, help 
us, for Jesus' sake ! " that comes straight from 
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your heart goes straight to the heart of 
God. 

Tell Him everything, ask Him for whatever 
you need — nothing is too great for Him to un- 
dertake for you, nothing too trivial for Him to 
notice, and if what you ask for is well for you, 
you shall have it ; and if it be not, your Father will 
still answer your petition — all the more kindly 
and lovingly for not sending His answer in just 
the way you expect. 

He knows our natures and surroundings and 
He is ever ready to help and succor, always more 
ready to give than we are to ask, therefore lay 
David's words to your heart and follow them in 
your lives, having always the same faith that he 
had. " Evening, and morning, and at noon will 
I pray, and cry aloud; and He shall hear my 



148 



XXXVII 

" Upon the first day of the week let every one of yon lay by 
him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gath- 
erings when I come." — 1 COE. 16 : 2. 

IE" the second chapter of Genesis we read 
that after the wonderful work of the creation 
was completed, God rested on the seventh 
day and blessed and sanctified it. 

Later on, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, 
we find, in the fourth commandment, that God 
appointed the seventh day to be kept as a time 
of rest and worship after six days of labor, and 
in remembrance of the seventh period which He 
had sanctified after His creation of the world. 
This seventh day was called the Sabbath among 
the Jews and it was rigidly observed, with in- 
numerable forms and ceremonies, until the resur- 
rection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
After that His followers set apart and kept the 
first day of the week as their time of rest and 
worship, in remembrance of the Lord's resur- 
rection. 

No direct command for this change is to be 
found in the Gospels, but the men and women 
who formed the first band of Christians were 
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nearly all Israelites, accustomed to the observ- 
ance of the seventh day, and their willingness to 
accept the change seems to indicate that our Lord 
Jesus had given them a command to that effect. 
Perhaps it was given during the forty days be- 
tween His resurrection and ascension, when He 
taught them " of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God." 

And our Lord sanctified these meetings on the 
first day of the week by His presence. St. John 
tells us that on the evening of the resurrection 
day, " being the first day of the week," the Sa- 
viour appeared among His disciples when they 
met together, and just a week later He again ap- 
peared among them when they were assembled. 

Pentecost came upon the first day of the week, 
and in the Acts St. Luke tells us that upon the 
first day of the week the disciples came together 
" to break bread " — that is, to partake of the Holy 
Communion, when St. Paul preached to them. 

When we devote the Lord's Day, which is the 
name given to the first day of the week by the 
early Christians, to His worship by putting away 
from us the things which have filled our time 
during the week, and by meeting in Sunday- 
school and church with hearts full of love and 
thankfulness for the privilege, then are we fulfill- 
ing the fourth commandment as well as did the 
most devout Jew of old. 
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And now that we know what " the first day of 
the week " means, let us consider the other part 
of the text. In his Epistle to the Christians at 
Corinth St. Paul asked them to devote their of- 
ferings to the help of the Christians at Jeru- 
salem, who were in need. He bade each Corin- 
thian lay aside a certain amount of money the 
first day of the week, "as God had prospered 
him. , ' 

This custom of making an offering to God on 
the first day of the week, our Sunday, is still ob- 
served in our Church, as you all know, dear chil- 
dren. Besides praising God with our hearts and 
voices we have the privilege of offering unto Him 
a share of our worldly goods. Each Sunday we 
have the right to lay our portion, be it small or 
large, on the plate, and to join in the offertory 
sentence which follows as the alms basin is placed 
upon the altar. 

St. Paul tells us that each one should give " as 
God has prospered him." I hope that you all 
understand what the meaning of this is, my boys 
and girls. It is that each should give according 
to his or her means. If God has given to one 
plenty, that one should give generously to God. 
If another has not a great deal still let him give 
of his little, with a cheerful heart. 

All our good things come from God and it is 
" right and our bounden duty " that our offerings 
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to Him should be of those good things. You 
remember what we sing in the offertory, " All 
things come of Thee, O Lord, and of Thine own 
do we give unto Thee." Think of this when you 
make your offerings, and take no credit to your- 
selves for what you give. 

I know that the majority of boys and girls de- 
pend on father's or mother's generosity for their 
offerings in Sunday-school or church, and they 
may say that St. Paul's injunction to give ac- 
cordingly as God has prospered them does not 
apply to their case. But doesn't it ? 

There are very few boys and girls who do not 
have a little spending money during the week, 
and some have quite a good deal. Now if they 
are earnest little Christians, filled with the self- 
sacrificing spirit of their Master, could they not 
lay aside a part of this pocket money to add to 
their usual offerings ? 

I understand the fascinations of candy and 
dolls, and marbles and tops, and I like to see boys 
and girls enjoy them, in moderation. But you 
know, dear little men and women, that what you 
give to God is treasure laid up in heaven. And 
you have no idea how much good work can be 
accomplished by a number of small offerings com- 
bined. 

"He who giveth to the poor lendeth to the 
Lord," keep this in mind, dear little soldiers of 
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the Cross, and try to make your offerings as 
liberal as you can. For in this way you may be 
able to help build up churches where none are 
now, or to send missionaries to tell the Gospel 
story "to those who sit in darkness," or to endow 
a bed for a sick child, in some hospital, or to 
feed and clothe those who are poor and destitute. 
May God bless the giving to you, and if it en- 
tail some self-sacrifice remember that what pleases 
our Lord best is 

' ' Not what we give, but what we share, 
For the gift without the giver is bare." 












153 



XXXVIII 

" Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands 
of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the op- 
pressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? Is it not to deal 
thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are 
cast out to thy house ? When thou seest the naked that thou 
cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own 
flesh ? "—Isaiah 58 : 6, 7. 

THE children of Israel had most griev- 
ously sinned against God ; they had for- 
gotten and offended Him in many ways, 
and the prophet Isaiah was sent to tell them how 
displeased and dissatisfied God was with them. 
When the voice of the grand old prophet rang 
through the streets of Jerusalem in tones of sol- 
emn warning, the people grew troubled ; they 
wore sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads and 
made long prayers and fasted in sign of their 
penitence. But God did not accept these prayers 
and fastings, for He saw that they were but 
empty forms, in which their hearts were not. 
They fulfilled the letter of the law — its outward 
form — but the spirit of the law, which is love, 
was not in them, for in that land were many 
wicked people, to convert whom no effort was 
made ; many oppressed and sorrowful who were 
left uncared for and uu comforted. The hungry 
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went unfed, the destitute suffered even for cloth- 
ing, and the poor — their " own flesh " — were 
despised. 

This was a very wrong and most mistaken ren- 
dering of the law, and God sent Isaiah to tell His 
people that a more acceptable sign to Him of their 
penitence and of their love, would be to abstain, not 
from food alone, but from evil, and to render wil- 
ling and helpful service to their fellow-creatures. 

Even so in these days, dear boys and girls, not 
alone the things you give up, not alone the self- 
sacrifice you make, but the spirit which actuates 
both, is what makes them acceptable to our dear 
Lord. Some of you may think that these verses 
do not apply to you ; that you could not possibly 
convert anybody; nor relieve nor comfort any- 
body ; that you have not the means whereby to 
feed or clothe any one in hunger or need — and 
that you have never despised the poor. 

Now let us talk this over together and perhaps, 
before we finish, you may realize that even little 
children can do some, if not all the things that 
are mentioned in this message that God has sent 
to all His people. A steadfast holding to one's 
principles from day to day, a brave word spoken 
for the right in the face of ridicule may convert, 
that is, turn from evil back to good, a school- 
mate, or friend or " brother " — isn't that worth 
trying for ? A boy or girl who looks for the op- 
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portunity can protect some smaller, more timid 
companion from the petty, but most trying impo- 
sitions of thoughtless or unkind associates ; or 
help a schoolmate to understand a task that hangs 
like a weight upon the less active mind — wouldn't 
this be " undoing " a burden that pressed heavily, 
and letting one that was oppressed go free ? 

And which of you but can find a chance in the 
course of every day to speak a loving, " comfort- 
ing " word to a little schoolmate, or brother or 
sister in distress over some childish grievance; 
to mother, with a headache, to father, tired from 
business, or perhaps to some stranger — a " neigh- 
bor " — who is sad or weary or in trouble. 

Opportunities, you know, come to those who 
look for them, and while you may not be able to 
take the poor into your own house, you may be 
able by self-denial to do as some other boys and 
girls that I know are doing — save your money 
from week to week and give it to help provide a 
home for homeless little ones, or for those who 
are too old or feeble to support themselves. In 
the same way you can feed or clothe some poor, 
hungry or poorly clothed fellow-creature. Should 
you not do all of these things — and God does not 
expect impossibilities of His children — you may 
be able to do one or two of them. Kemem- 
ber that it is the love you put into the service that 
God values. 

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For the sake of the dear Christ who so loved 
His people that He gave His life for them, love 
your fellow-creatures. To your faith add works ; 
with each of your prayers to the throne of grace, 
offer a service, no matter how small, performed 
for some poor, needy fellow-creature in the true 
spirit of love. Be considerate, be helpful, be 
loving — " for if a man love not his brother, whom 
he hath seen, how can he love God whom he 
hath not seen ? " 



157 



XXXIX 

"When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple 
standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, 
Woman, behold thy Son ! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold, 
thy mother ! And from that hour that disciple took her unto 



YOU all know this beautiful story, children. 
How in the midst of His own great agony, 
hanging on the cruel cross, tortured by 
the heat and glare of the burning sun, and parched 
with thirst, our Lord Jesus Christ yet thought of 
and tenderly provided for His mother. 

We are told that she stood beside the cross, 
and we can imagine the bitter sorrow that filled 
her heart in that last awful scene. Also stand- 
ing close by was St. John, the disciple whom 
Jesus loved. Kegardless of the danger to him- 
self from the angry Jews John had pressed close 
to his beloved Master. And it was to him that 
the dying Lord entrusted His weeping mother. 
" And from that hour that disciple took her unto 
his own home." 

]STor is this the only instance in the Bible of the 
love and honor which Jesus gave His mother 
while on earth. Though very early in His boy- 
hood He knew Himself to be the Son of God, 
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invested with the wisdom and power of His 
Father in heaven, He yet honored His mother 
and Joseph by a childhood of obedience. We 
read that He was " subject unto them." From 
first to last — obedience and tender love ! What 
an example for the children who should come 
after Him ! 

In the fifth commandment are these words, 
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy 
days may be long in the land which the Lord thy 
God giveth thee." 

The Jews knew this commandment by heart 
(as do most of us) but in the time of the Saviour, 
so avaricious had they grown and so lost to the 
sense of what the words meant that many of 
them taught that by declaring their money to be 
" Corban," that is, devoted to God's use, they 
need not use any of it to support their parents. 
They pretended to think that God would be bet- 
ter pleased with their gifts of money than by the 
loving care and obedience which they ought to 
have given to their parents. 

Our Lord saw the grievous sin into which the 
Pharisees had fallen and He reproved them for 
their unnatural behavior. He knew that no one 
could truly love God who did not love also his 
father and mother and brother and sister and 
neighbor. 

Now perhaps when some of my boys and girls 
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hear of these unkind and heartless Jews they 
will say to themselves, with a little satisfaction 
at being so much better than they, "I wouldn't 
treat my father and mother as they did theirs.'' 
Perhaps you wouldn't, dear boy or girl, I hope 
you wouldn't, but before you condemn the Phari- 
sees be sure that you are fulfilling your duty to 
your parents. You may not be called upon to 
support your fathers and mothers, but you are 
certainly to love and honor them. And are 
you all doing it ? I should be so glad to think 
so. 

How can a boy or girl honor father and mother 
in these days ? 

First by obedience, as did our Lord more than 
nineteen hundred years ago — prompt obedience, 
too. So often an order has to be given two or 
three, or more times, before the boy or girl pays 
the slightest attention to it. Then come fretful 
questions : " "Why must I do it ? " " Can't so and 
so do it instead of me ? " " It's a shame a fellow 
can't have a minute to himself." Or if the order 
is obeyed it is with a pout or scowl, an ugly 
twist of the shoulders, a lagging step or a disre- 
spectful slam of the door. And sometimes, oh, 
I grieve to write it ! there comes the naughty, 
wilful " I will ! " or " I won't ! " in downright 
disobedience. 

Little soldiers of the Cross, is this following 
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your Captain's example and honoring your father 
and mother ? 

Another way to honor your parents is to listen 
and to profit by what they tell you. "When you 
are told to be neat and clean in your appearance, 
to have a place for your things and to keep them 
in that place, to speak correctly, and to be polite 
and gentle and truthful, as becomes a Christian 
boy and girl — don't call it " fuss and rubbish," 
but try to realize that those who give you these 
instructions do it because they take an interest 
in you and want you to be nice and lovable. 
Honor your parents or those who fill their place 
by acting on what they have told you, out of 
their presence as well as in it. 

Try also, dear children, to be patient under 
punishment. Believe me, very often those who 
have to inflict the punishment feel worse over it 
than you do in enduring it. If you think father 
or mother enjoys depriving you of a pleasure, or 
giving you pain, you are very much mistaken. 
They only punish you in the hope that by doing 
so they will impress upon you to avoid commit- 
ting that particular offense again. 

One more thing: Think and plan sometimes 
for the comfort of your parents. Don't act as if 
you considered they were in the world simply to 
minister to your comfort and pleasure. Kemem- 
ber how dependent you are upon them and how 
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good and kind they are to you. Don't let father 
or mother stand while you occupy the most com- 
fortable chair in the room. Don't let them go 
up and down-stairs on errands that your young 
feet could swiftly perform. And don't grumble 
when they ask you to do anything about the 
house. 

These are just a few practical hints. Those of 
you who are in earnest will find many, many 
ways in which to honor father and mother and 
so to win God's blessing. Obedience to this 
command will bring a blessing to those who 
practice it, for it is the Saviour who tells you 
through St. Paul, " Children, obey your parents 
in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the 
Lord." 



162 



XL 

"No servant can serve two masters : for either he will hate 
the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and 
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." — 
St. Luke 16 : 13. 

A BOY once said to me about this text: 
"Mammon, oh! that means money — 
wealth, doesn't it? That doesn't apply 
to us. Children don't love money, so they don't 
serve mammon." Don't you think they do, boys 
and girls ? Suppose we look into the matter a 
little before you come to a positive conclusion. 

Mammon is a Syriac word, and it means world- 
liness as well as it does money or wealth. Now 
what is worldliness ? 

It is being so full of a love for the pleasures 
and amusements of the world that love for God 
is pushed to one side; sometimes, alas, entirely 
out of the heart. 

Do boys and girls never get to care more for 
pleasure than for God? Don't think that, be- 
cause you are a little boy or a little girl, you need 
not be on your guard against worldliness. 

Temptations come to all, to children as well as 
to grown people, so the little soldiers must be 
just as much on the alert as the larger ones. 
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Our Lord says, " No servant can serve two mas- 
ters " at the same time. He means that no one 
can love Him and at the same time love the 
things of the world. Now by this He does not 
mean that boys and girls are not to have fun or 
to enjoy themselves, but what He does mean is 
that those who put pleasure or fun before the 
love or worship of God are not serving Him but 
worldliness. Some boys and girls (some grown 
people, too) are trying to carry on this double 
worship. They don't mean to slight their Lord, 
but they let the love of pleasure get such control 
over them that after a while they forget to " ren- 
der unto God the things that are God's." 

I have known boys to play ball right up to 
the Sunday-school door on Sunday morning, and 
talk 'cycling or tennis or some other game every 
chance they got while the lesson was going on, 
and in church whisper and smile, and even nudge 
each other while on their knees. Yet those boys 
prided themselves on their record for regular 
attendance, and on the number of verses which 
they had learned from the Bible and they would 
have been very much surprised, even indignant, 
had they been told that they were serving world- 
liness rather than God. Girls, too, I am sorry 
to say, often forget for Whose sake they go to 
Sunday-school and church, and they whisper, or 
giggle or take notes of their neighbors' doings. 
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These boys and girls fancy they are serving 
God by their attendance at Sunday-school and in 
His house, but do you think such half-hearted, 
divided service is of value to Him? No one 
would believe in the loyalty of a soldier who 
undertook to serve the enemy as well as his own 
side in time of war. He would be true to neither, 
and if he went over entirely to the enemy he 
would be considered a traitor to his cause. And 
when those who call themselves "children of 
God," followers of Christ, give their best service 
to worldliness they are traitors to their Lord. 

I have heard that the dear lad who bore the 
name of his grandfather Abraham Lincoln re- 
garded it as a great honor, as indeed it was. He 
never allowed the name to be contracted to Abe, 
considering that beneath his dignity, and he 
tried with earnest conscientiousness throughout 
his short life to be as like his namesake as pos- 
sible and so to live as befitted the honorable 
name he bore. There is a lesson for us in young 
Abraham Lincoln's love and reverence for his 
grandfather's memory and name. 

We bear the name of Christ as Christians, the 
name of the only perfect Man the world has ever 
known, the name of our Lord and Saviour ; let 
us see to it that we give Him the undivided love 
and service which are His due. Be careful, dear 
children, not to let your play or school, or any 
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earthly interest, draw your love away from your 
Lord. 

We all need to ask for help that we may give 
Him our best love and undivided worship ; so let 
us pray together: "O God, who knovvest us to 
be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, 
that, by reason of the frailty of our nature, we 
cannot always stand upright : Grant to us such 
strength and protection, as may support us in all 
dangers, and carry us through all temptations; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 



166 



XLI 

". . . Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back 
Thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; let them not have 
dominion over me." — Psalm 19 : 12, 13. 

WE are generally able to see and rec- 
ognize the faults of the people we 
know, but how many of us have a clear 
understanding of our own ? We are very apt to 
offer excuses for, or to pass over in ourselves the 
same errors that in other people we consider 
so objectionable. And when it comes to secret 
faults ! — the majority of us never give them a 
thought. And the faults are all the more seri- 
ous for that very reason. 

You know, boys and girls, it is far easier to 
defend one's self from an open foe than from one 
of whose existence even we are unaware until he 
strikes us. 

David's experience in war had taught him 
this, and the sins into which he had fallen dur- 
ing his lifetime had convinced him that there 
lurked more than one secret foe within his own 
heart, which might suddenly arise and overwhelm 
him. So he prayed to his Father in heaven to 
cleanse him from " secret faults." 

These secret faults are the ones that, unknown 
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to us, work in our hearts until they ofttinies 
undermine some high principle of our character, 
and then, when an emergency comes for which 
we need all the support of that principle, lo ! it 
fails us entirely, and we are unable to resist the 
evil. Have you not heard, perhaps known (I 
pray God it may not have been your own experi- 
ence), of some one, it may be child or grown 
person, who has lived an honorable, upright life, 
and been all that was strong and pure and good, 
and suddenly that person has gone down before 
temptation and fallen into sin in a way that has 
been a shock and grief to every one ? 

You may be sure, in such a case, that a " secret 
fault" has been lurking in that person's heart 
for a long enough time to completely sap the 
strength that would have insured victory. And 
yet the one who suffered most from it may not 
have even dreamed that such a fault was in him. 

You see, children, these faults are secret faults 
— they hide themselves from us. But, alas ! they 
work none the less certainly for that ; and our 
only safeguard is to pray to our Lord always 
as David did : " Cleanse Thou me from secret 
faults." 

He sees our secret faults though we cannot; 

He knows our danger, too ; you remember, " He 

was tempted like as we are." And while He 

never yielded to sin, the remembrance of those 

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temptations makes Him very tender to us, and 
always willing to help those who call upon Him. 
It is only through His gracious mercy and help 
that we can ever keep these secret faults from 
becoming " presumptuous sins " and getting en- 
tire control of us. Oh, let us pray, with heart 
and soul, my boys and girls, to be cleansed from 
secret faults, and to be kept at all times holy and 
Christlike, " so that at the last we may come to 
His eternal joy through " the same " Jesus Christ 
our Lord." 



169 



XLII 

' ' Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer : for I believe God, that it 
shall be even as it was told me." — Acts 27 : 25. 

IN one of our talks, not long ago, we spoke of 
St. Paul's manliness — you remember, don't 
you, children ? — now to-day we will take an 
incident in his life which shows forth his 
courage very clearly. 

Courage, as you all know, is one of the essen- 
tial parts of manliness, and St. Paul possessed 
both moral and physical courage in a very high 
degree. He was never afraid to say what was 
right, and in the hour of danger he never 
flinched. 

This was not because he was big and strong 
and powerful, for it is known that he was small 
and rather insignificant looking, and that he had 
an impediment in his speech. But all that did 
not affect his big, noble soul, and that was what 
made him so fearless at all times. You know, 
boys and girls, it is far better to have a big, brave 
soul in a little body than a little, mean soul in a 
big body — don't forget this. 

Through the ill will of some of the Jews — his 
own countrymen — St. Paul had been arrested for 
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preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he was 
now on his way to Eome to be judged by the em- 
peror Caesar Augustus. He, with his friend Luke 
(who, you will remember, wrote the Book of 
Acts in which we read this story), " and certain 
other prisoners," under the charge of a Koman 
centurion named Julius, and a guard of soldiers, 
were in a ship on their way from Myra, a town 
on the coast of Asia Minor, to Italy, when a 
great storm arose. 

St. Luke's account of this storm and the dan- 
ger they were in is very graphic, and cannot fail 
to interest a boy or girl. He tells us the east 
wind was so high that, though fearful of running 
into the quicksands which lay along that coast, 
the captain and sailors were compelled to pull 
down their sails, and let the ship scud under bare 
poles, wherever it drove her. 

The second day they were obliged to lighten 
the ship — probably threw some of the cargo over- 
board — and on the third day even the ship's 
tackle had to be cast away. In this task of 
lightening the ship all on board took part — 
prisoners and guard alike. And when da} r after 
day passed and neither sun nor stars appeared in 
the heavens, and the fury of the storm still en- 
compassed them, all on board (there were 276 in 
all), save one, lost hope. 

Their hearts were filled with terror and despair 
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— they had given themselves up to the fate which 
seemed inevitable. And we can imagine their 
astonishment and unbelief when one of the 
prisoners — a small, stammering man, Paul the 
Hebrew — stood up among them, and bidding 
them " be of good cheer " told them that the 
ship should indeed be destroyed, but that not 
one life of all those on board of her should be 
lost. 

Probably they were angry, probably they 
scoffed at what he said, it seemed so unlikely, nay, 
impossible, that every life should be saved, or in 
fact, any, in the face of a storm like this. And 
who was this man to dare to make such an absurd 
statement to them ? A " Nazarene " — under ar- 
rest — a prisoner in disgrace ! 

But Paul was not daunted. In prayer and 
fasting had he passed those hours of danger, and 
he had come very near to God. His courage had 
never faltered, and now his big soul was full of 
faith in the power of his Lord. He was sure 
of what he had to say. 

" For," he told the angry, wondering people 
around him, " there stood by me this night the 
angel of God, whose I am, and Whom I serve, 
saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought be- 
fore Caesar ; and lo ! God hath given thee all them 
that sail with thee," that is that God would save 
them all for Paul's sake. 
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The quiet confidence of Paul's manner must 
have carried assurance to even these heathen to 
whom he spoke. " Wherefore, sirs," he said, " be 
of good cheer ; for I believe God, that it shall be 
even as it was told me." Then he added, 
"Howbeit, we must be cast upon a certain 
island." 

And though they may not have believed all 
that Paul said, it is evident from the Bible story 
that his influence over them must have been 
great ; for it was he that comforted and cheered 
and encouraged them through the fourteen days 
and nights of that terrible storm. 

When at the end of that time the ship began to 
near some unknown land and the cowardly sea- 
men sought to escape to it in the only boat, it 
was in obedience to Paul's request that the cen- 
turion detained them — the prisoner had become 
the commander ! It was Paul who induced all 
on board to strengthen themselves with food — 
giving thanks to his God in the presence of them 
all — before the ship was run ashore on the island 
of Melita, or as we call it to-day, Malta. 

His courage and his faith never failed, even 
when the vessel went to pieces and everybody 
was cast into the sea. And the God in whom he 
believed was with him as He had promised, " and 
so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to 
land." 

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Turn to the twenty-seventh chapter of the 
Book of Acts and read the story for yourselves, 
dear boys and girls, and strive to be as brave and 
faithful as was St. Paul. 



174 



XLIII 

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the 
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." — Eph. 5 : 20. 

A WISE " somebody " says that a thankful 
heart finds something to be thankful for, 
no matter how poorly situated ; or to ex- 
press it in another way, that everybody has 
something to be thankful for. And some of us, 
I am sure, have a great deal. 

The trouble is, we get so accustomed to our 
good things that many of us take them as a right, 
and forget to give thanks where thanks are due. 
But the obligation is on us all the same, and the 
sooner we realize this and begin to cultivate a 
thankful heart, the better for us all. 

Now let us think of a few of the good things 
we enjoy and often forget to be thankful for. 
First, for strong, healthy bodies. How many of 
my boys and girls give thanks because they are 
free from pain and can run and jump and exer- 
cise with enjoyment ? When we stand en- 
tranced before a magnificent view or a beautiful 
picture, or read an interesting book, or look on 
the faces of those we love, how many of us re- 
member to be thankful for the eyesight which 
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gives us this pleasure and happiness ? Or to be 
grateful for the sense of smell when flower, or 
field, or wood offers us its refreshing odor ; or for 
the hearty appetite which belongs to health, and 
for the food that brings us strength ? 

And how seldom does it occur to any of us to 
be thankful for the blessed power of speech, 
which enables us to express in words our ap- 
proval of a noble act, our disapproval of a mean 
one — our joy, love, friendship, pity, sympathy 
and trust. We accept the blessings of home and 
home love — the love of father and mother, 
brothers and sisters and friends — with scarce a 
thrill of thankfulness to the good Father who has 
given them to us. 

Each one of us has some good gift to acknowl- 
edge. Even where a gift that is common to all 
seems to be lacking, you may be sure another 
has been given to make up for it — for instance, a 
dear little crippled child, a " shut in," who can 
now neither run nor jump nor play out of doors 
— hear what she says : 

" Yes it's very hard sometimes not to be able 
to walk about and play oat of doors, but then 
everybody is so good to me. And besides I have 
my dear * shut in ' letters and my books. Do you 
know, I find lots of things in my books I never 
knew were there when I was well — such nice 
comforting bits. When Hal comes in afternoons 
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from play we exchange, he tells me 'bout outdoors 
and I read him my letters and tell him the very 
nicest of my stories. Oh, we have lots of fun and 
he says I'm ever so much nicer than I used to be." 

And this is what a little blind boy told some 
one who expressed sorrow for the affliction which 
had fallen upon him : 

" At first I thought I never could be happy 
again, but I don't mind near so much now, since 
I've found out I have some things the other fel- 
lows haven't. I can make believe shut my eyes 
and see such lovely pictures that they're all sur- 
prised when I tell them. And I can hear miles 
further 'n they can — and as for my fingers, why 
they're almost as good as eyes to me. "Why I 
can find out more by touching people and things 
than some of the boys can with their eyes." 

So you see, dear children, there is opportunity 
for thankfulness even in affliction. 

We have other blessings which are just as 
every-day and common to us all as are the ones 
we have just talked of — and just as necessary — 
such as a roof over our heads, clothes to wear, 
food to eat, and for these many of us often for- 
get to be thankful. You see we are so used to 
having them that some of us forget that they are 
blessings at all. Let us, who realize that they 
are, see to it that we are grateful, and so, per- 
haps help others to be grateful also. 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

As I said in the beginning of our talk, these 
are only a few of the many, many blessings that 
each person has. Just take a few minutes' time 
to think up some more of your blessings and then 
talk them over with mother or father or big 
sister or brother — will you ? 

There is one great blessing — the greatest of all, 
which, thank God for it ! belongs to every human 
being. You know what I mean, don't you, boys 
and girls? — the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
And no matter if you are a very little child you 
can still have a very big share of His love — in 
fact for that very reason you are certain of it, for 
He loves little children. 

You know it is His love that keeps our life 
sweet and holy, and helps us to do noble things, 
and when we give thanks " for all things unto 
God and the Father in the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ " let our most earnest thanksgiving 
be for the love of the same dear Christ. 



178 



XLIV 

" Not with eye service, as men pleasers ; but in singleness of 
heart, fearing God."— Col. 3 : 22. 

THE people St. Paul had in mind when 
he wrote these words were those who 
slurred over, or only half accomplished 
what they had to do, unless under the watchful 
eye of a taskmaster, or whoever might be in 
authority over them. The kind of people which 
did well when other people would know of it — 
in order to gain praise or favor — but slighted 
their task, or left it undone when the doing was 
merely a matter of duty. 

There were a good many such people in St. 
Paul's time, and there are, I am sorry to say, a 
large number of them in the world to-day. And 
not all grown people are they either — look well 
into your own hearts, my dears, and then answer 
honestly — don't you know some boys and girls 
who give this kind of " eye service " ? 

The boys and girls who are polite and well be- 
haved in the presence of parents or guardians, 
and are rough and rude when out of their sight 
are also " eye servers " and " men pleasers." So 
are they who pretend to be deeply engrossed in 
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their studies or any other task entrusted to them, 
as long as the eyes of teacher or master are upon 
them, and then are idle and neglectful in their 
absence. 

I have been told that some young people pride 
themselves on this sort of double dealing, that 
they call it " smart " and " clever " and "adroit " 
to deceive those who love and trust them. But 
I am not willing to believe that any one would 
be proud of being a hypocrite — for that is what 
this " eye service " makes one. 

You know, children, we are all, more or less, 
servants in this world. From the poorest child 
to the highest dignitary in the land, each has 
work of some kind to do, and in that way 
" serves " some one. And whether it be the 
making of a law, or the sweeping of a room, the 
leading of a great army, or the learning of one's 
lessons, the care of a nation, or the carrying out 
of the monotonous round of trivial duties that 
make up a child's life, it is important to do one 
just as well as the other. The small duty is a 
responsibility as well as the larger one. 

Remember that we do not come to our places 
by accident, and that God expects each girl and 
boy as well as each man and woman, to do his 
and her very best. He puts of His best into us, 
and He has a right to expect our best in return. 

To my mind there is nothing so sweet and 
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wholesome or so lovable, as a young girl or boy 
who recognizes a duty and fulfils it — not grudg- 
ingly, like a churl — not as a slave would under 
the eye of a feared taskmaster, with " eye serv- 
ice, as men pleasers ; but in singleness of heart, 
fearing God." Not as a hypocrite, to gain unde- 
served praise or favor, but with honesty of heart 
and firmness of purpose as becometh a child of 
God, a follower of Christ. 



181i 



XLV 

". . . For there is none other Name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." — Acts 4 : 12. 

DEAK boys and girls, have you ever 
thought how much certain names stand 
to us for ? 

For instance, the name George Washington 
stands to us for strict honor and integrity, 
William Penn for patience and unswerving 
honesty, Abraham Lincoln for a rare and noble 
simplicity of character. The names of these 
men carry an influence for good which will al- 
ways be felt in our land, and for which I am 
sure all thoughtful Americans are thankful. 

But while this influence must strengthen us in 
our daily lives, and help us to be better men and 
women and boys and girls, not one of us would 
ever expect to get to heaven through the name 
of George Washington or William Penn or 
Abraham Lincoln. Only one Name can do that 
for us, you remember — "There is none other 
Name under heaven given among men, whereby 
we must be saved " but that of Jesus Christ, the 
Saviour of the world. 

His name stands to us for all that is good and 
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holy and noble and lovable. And if we put Him 
first in our hearts, and make His example the 
ruling motive of our lives then shall we be learn- 
ing the power of this " Name of wondrous love," 
and laying up for ourselves the hope of everlast- 
ing life. 

Sometimes boys and girls — grown people too 
— make the mistake of depending on the good 
deeds they do — the number and greatness of 
them, forgetting that a cup of cold water given 
in His name, for very love of Him, is of more 
value to our Lord than greater deeds that lack 
this quality. 

There was once a little English boy who came 
very near making this mistake. He loved his 
dear Master and tried tc serve Him in the little 
ways that come in a child's life, but he was 
always troubled that he could not do larger, 
greater works, and finally the trouble became a 
positive worry. He forgot that it was the 
" Name of Jesus " which was to save him, and 
not his own good deeds until God sent him a 
dream. 

But first I must tell you that the little boy's 
name was Albert, the same as that of the King 
of England, and he was very proud of it, too. 
One night Albert dreamed that he was in such a 
beautiful place he knew at once it must be the 
entrance to heaven. A shining white angel 
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stood by the massive gates of gold; to hini 
Albert went and asked to be admitted to the 
presence of the Lord. 

" What name ? " asked the angel. 

" Albert," replied the little boy, speaking his 
royal name very distinctly. 

But the angel shook his head. " You cannot 
come in," he said, sadly, yet so decidedly that 
Albert felt there was no gainsaying the decree. 

He stood aside surprised and oh, so sorrowful ! 
and watched a band of children that came joy- 
ously up to the gates. The foremost one was a 
playmate of Albert's, a merry, happy lad who al- 
ways had a pleasant word and smile for every one. 

" What name ? " asked the angel. Albert 
could not hear the low answers that were given, 
but the gates were opened wide, and Jamie and 
his band passed into the blessed regions. 

"What can the password be that Jamie 
knows and I don't?" wondered Albert. "I 
know he has never tried to serve the Lord as I 
have." 

Just then another group of children ap- 
proached the gates and to his great surprise 
among them was his little lame sister, who was 
rarely able to leave her couch. 

" What name ? " again asked the angel, bending 
tenderly over the little figure, and Albert crept 
up to listen. 

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The lame child smiled up at the shining gate- 
keeper: "Jesus," she answered with a happy 
smile, and instantly the heavy gates flew open 
to admit her. 

Albert stood aside for a few minutes with 
bent head and humbled heart, the scales had fallen 
from his eyes — not Albert, not Albert's works, but 
the Name of Jesus must be his password into 
heaven. 

With drooping head he again stood before the 
angel ; and to the question " What name ? " came 
the earnest, fervent answer, "Jesus, my dear 
Lord Jesus." 

"Enter," said the angel, throwing open the 
golden doors. 

" For there is none other Name under heaven 
given among men, whereby we must be saved." 

Let us keep the lesson of Albert's dream well 
before us, my boys and girls, praying for help to 
love our dear Lord more and more, and He 
" who knoweth us to be set in the midst of so 
many and great dangers, that by reason of the 
frailty of our natures we cannot always stand 
upright," will "grant to us such strength and 
protection as may support us in all dangers, and 
carry us through all temptations ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen." 



185 



XLVI 

" . . . Be thou strong, therefore, and shew thyself a 
man."— 1 Kings 2 : 2. 

MANLINESS is a quality that all boys 
admire — as well they may, for those 
who possess it are in a fair way to win 
the love, respect and admiration of the people 
with whom they come in contact. Al] boys like 
to be considered manly, and all, I fancy, try to 
be, but I wonder how many understand what 
makes up true manliness ? 

Some boys cultivate roughness of speech and 
manner, use profane language and speak dis- 
respectfully and unkindly to mother and sisters 
and younger brothers. They are dictatorial and 
discourteous to their elders, and make themselves 
generally exceedingly disagreeable, all under the 
belief that by such behavior they are showing 
themselves to be very manly. 

But are they ? What do you think about it, 
boys ? 

Let us see what example some of the manly 
men of the world have left us. 

Take David, the famous King of Israel. 
David was a very manly man, as you will all 
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admit; he was brave, and strong too — he knew 
the value of strength — but he was never dis- 
respectful to his parents nor unkind to his 
brothers ; he was not cruel, nor rough, nor pro- 
fane. No, David's manliness made him obedient 
to his parents, patient and forgiving to his 
enemies, gentle and courteous and loving to his 
friends, and reverent to his God. 

David knew that true strength and manliness 
could be displayed in many other positions than 
on the battle-field, as we see by the last charge 
that he gave his son Solomon. 

David knew that Solomon's reign would be a 
peaceful one, for God had assured him of that 
through the prophet Nathan. Solomon would 
have no occasion for the display of physical 
strength, yet David bade him " Be thou strong, 
therefore, and show thyself a man." He meant be 
strong to resist temptation and to hold fast to 
that which is good, and show your manliness by 
being honest and pure-hearted and truthful and 
gentle. 

David was not above acknowledging when he 
was in the wrong, and he was never ashamed to 
admit and to show before all that he preferred 
God's approval to man's. 

This is what David's manliness teaches us. 

Now take Peter, the big, loving, impulsive 
apostle. Peter was brave and warlike ; he knew 
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how to use his sword, but long before he died he 
learned that true manliness lay in other ways 
than mere physical strength. Listen to his 
definition of manliness. 

"Be ye all of one mind, having compassion 
one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be 
courteous; not rendering evil for evil; or rail- 
ing for railing ; but, contrariwise, blessing." 

Next take the man for whom we all have 
so keen an admiration and respect — Paul, the 
apostle to the Gentiles. Paul had not Peter's 
physical strength, but he was a thoroughly 
manly man. If you read the Book of Acts you 
will learn of some of the hairbreadth adventures 
he went through, the hardships he endured, and 
the persecution he submitted to, all in a brave, 
steadfast fashion that every manly boy must 
admire. 

And what does Paul tell us ? " Be ye kind 
one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one 
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for- 
given you." And thus come nearer to " the 
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 

One more example of manliness, children, the 
only perfect one the world has ever known- 
Jesus Christ, the Lord. 

You remember the obedient boyhood of our 
dear Saviour, His patience, gentleness and love ; 
His truthfulness and purity ; His kindly considera- 
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tion for every one and His wonderful courage. 
Think of all this, then of the torture of the death 
upon the cross, after all that had gone before it, 
and you will begin to realize the high quality of 
the manliness which Jesus displayed all through 
His life, and in His death. 

Dear boys, you could never think of our Lord 
as being rough or unkind or hurting any one's 
feelings, or soiling His lips with profane words 
— could you ? 

And His manliness is the highest kind of 
manliness, so take Him for your pattern, and 
show yourselves men in the truest sense of the 
word by striving to follow the example He has 
left you. 



1S9 



XLVII 

" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth 
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given 
him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that 
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and 
'— Jas. 1 : 5, 6. 



JUST think for a moment, children, of what 
a splendid promise this is — wisdom to be had 
for the asking ! 
Money, we are told, is a great power in the 
world ; so it is, but it is wisdom — knowledge prop- 
erly used — that gives money its power. 

Wisdom in some shape or form enters into 
every department of our life, and is of incalcu- 
lable benefit. By its help men make laws, write 
books, paint pictures, plan and erect great and 
beautiful buildings, lay railroads, invent steam 
engines and steamboats, build bridges, cable cars 
and elevated roads and many, many other things 
that I haven't the space to mention. 

Into all that is done well must come wisdom — 
knowledge properly used. In the home it directs 
parents how to take care of their children, and 
how to bring them up to be of service to God and 
man. In the schools and colleges wisdom shows 
to teachers and faculty ways and means by which 
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to instruct and guide well the boys and girls that 
are in their charge. 

And what does wisdom do for the boys and 
girls themselves ? 

When I was a little child and went to school, 
my great ambition was to become wise — to gain 
wisdom. I wanted my wisdom to take the form 
of intellect ; I wanted to be able to learn a great 
deal and to remember and use it all when I grew 
up. To my childish mind that seemed to be the 
highest and best kind of wisdom, and I fancy a 
great many boys and girls feel about this now as 
I used to do. An instance of it came under my 
notice lately, at a school commencement which I 
attended. 

The valedictorian was a girl — perhaps about 
sixteen, or a little younger — who had come out 
first of the thirteen hundred girls sent up for ex- 
amination to enter college. She bore her medals 
and other honors very modestly, but it was easy 
to see the honest, hearty pride of her teachers and 
classmates over her achievement. 

" Oh," said a girl behind me, " I think it must 
be the very nicest thing in the world to be clever 
— I'm going to try to be first in my class next 
year — aren't you ? " 

"I shall try," answered another, " but I know 
I won't get there — though I'd love to." 

Now children, it is quite right and proper to 
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wish to be clever, and if I had known those girls, 
or been near enough to them to have had a quiet 
little talk, I would have reminded them of what 
St. James has told us — that " If any one lack wis- 
dom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be 
given." 

To an earthly friend we might hesitate to ex- 
pose our ignorance, for fear of ridicule or scorn, 
but not so with God ; He will give " liberally " to 
our asking, and not only will He never upbraid 
us, but with this gift of wisdom from above will 
come a quality to us which no one but He can 
give. 

Pray for this wisdom, children, and you will 
get it — wisdom that will help you not only in- 
tellectually, but in every other department of 
your life as well. The wisdom that God gives 
will make better boys and girls of you — it will 
help you at school and at home. It will help you 
with your lessons, your sewing, your painting, 
your music, and even in your games and play- 
time. 

There is only one condition imposed with this 
splendid gift — that whoever desires it shall " ask 
in faith, nothing wavering," that is, that he 
shall most sincerely love God, and believe in 
Him, and in His power to grant what is asked 
for. 

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Ask in this way for wisdom, my dears, the 
wisdom that will help you to be of service here, 
and gain you the life hereafter ; ask, " nothing 
wavering," and you shall receive liberally. 



193 



XLVIII 

" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain : 
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name 
in vain." — Exod. 20: 7. 

" f"] ~^ELL me the meaning of this verse," I 
said one day, to a boy friend of mine. 
JL " The meaning," he repeated, " why 
that we're not to use God's name lightly or ir- 
reverently—in conversation or profanely. Isn't 
that what it means ? " 

Yes, all that and something more — I wonder 
if my boys and girls all know this other mean- 
ing ? 

The penalty attached to the breaking of this 
commandment is made very clear : " the Lord 
will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name 
in vain." And yet, alas ! many children — some 
grown people, too, I am afraid — are unthink- 
ingly committing the sin every day of their lives. 

On no account would they bring the Lord's name 
into a light or frivolous conversation ; the sound 
of His name profanely uttered would cause them 
to shudder with horror. Yet morning and even- 
ing, day after day, and in church on Sundays they 
themselves repeat the name of the Lord their God 
in prayers which come from their lips but not 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

from their hearts. Their lips say " Lord ! 
Lord ! " in vain repetition, while their thoughts 
are far away, full of other — worldly — subjects, 
and their hearts are cold. 

Is not this taking the Lord's name in vain ? 

When you kneel down night and morning for 
about three or five minutes and gabble a few 
words over, just as fast as you can say them, 
without the slightest thought of what they mean, 
or when you bend your knees in church and re- 
peat every prayer without the slightest regard to 
what you are saying — tell me, children, are you 
not taking God's name in vain? are you not 
mocking Him ? 

Do you think He will hold you guiltless ? 

If you have a favor to ask of your parents, or 
something to thank them for, your heart as well 
as your voice is in the words. Why not give at 
least as much as that to God ? 

When, in the time of Isaiah, the children of 
Israel urged — in reply to the prophet's warning 
— that they had made burnt offerings and said 
long prayers, do you remember the Lord's reply ? 

He told them that what He wanted was not 
the blood of bulls or goats, nor long prayers, but 
heart service. And so it is now — not the amount 
that you accomplish for Him, not the length of 
your prayers, is what pleases Him, but the sin- 
cerity and love that you put into both. 
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In saying your prayers night and morning, re- 
member Whom you are addressing, and try to 
keep worldly thoughts out of your mind. In 
church, even if you may know the service by 
heart, open your Prayer Book and follow the 
prayers ; read each word to yourself ; try to 
realize what it means — that you are asking God 
for something that you very much need, or 
thanking Him for favors received, or praising His 
holy name. 

Pray most earnestly for holiness and sincerity, 
that you may not take the name of the Lord 
your God in vain, " for the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." 



196 



XLIX 

" Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble 
knees."— Isa. 35:3. 

THIS is one of God's messages to us by 
His grand old prophet Isaiah, and one 
which, to my mind, seems specially meant 
for children and young people. 

You see they are so apt to think more of what 
their elders should do for them than of what 
they should do for their elders. In fact, I know 
boys and girls who would look at me in open-eyed 
astonishment, should I suggest that they could 
comfort and strengthen parents and grandpar- 
ents. Such an idea does not occur to them, yet, 
when we come to consider the matter thought- 
fully and fairly, you will see that even a very 
little child can do something — sometimes a good 
deal — for the grown people among whom he or 
she lives. 

When one is young, one's hands and feet are 
willing servants ; they lift this or that, turn or 
twist at will, hold, grip or carry as one pleases. 
They take one hither or thither, running, jump- 
ing, leaping, without any feeling of exertion. 
But as one grows older, hands and feet become 
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slower, weaker, until there come a time when all 
the swiftness and strength are gone — the person 
who was young and lusty and active has grown 
old and feeble. 

You are young now, dear boys and girls, and 
full of strength and activity, but some day, if 
you live, you, too, will become old and weak and 
timid. You, too, will need some one to run up 
or down-stairs on errands for you, to pick up 
things that fall on the floor, to hunt up mislaid 
spectacles, to offer you an arm on the street, to 
read to you, and to put a shawl around your 
shoulders. Then you, too, will start at loud 
noises, and get nervous and be tired and sad, if 
other boys and girls — as young and strong as 
you were once — come rushing into the room 
where you sit, banging the doors behind them ; 
or explode firecrackers without warning, almost 
under your nose, or shout and tease and chatter, 
regardless of the presence or comfort of grandpa 
or grandma — for that is what you may be by 
that time, you know. 

Time does not stand still, in fact, the older one 
grows, the faster it seems to fly. And there is 
no going over the days that are past, children, 
nor is there always opportunity to make amends 
for slights or neglects or unkindnesses to these 
weak and feeble ones. 

Make, therefore, good use of every chance that 
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comes to you, and as it comes strengthen the 
weak hands and feeble knees — whether weak and 
feeble by age or illness. Give your grandparents 
prompt, loving and respectful attention, be 
courteous to all aged persons ; and to mother and 
father render obedience and service. Not the 
slow, grudging sort that counts everything a 
trouble, but swift, cheerful obedience, and loving 
and willing service. 

You may not always have these dear ones; 
there will come a time of separation — when they 
will be called away, and you left here. And 
then the thought that will add most keenly to 
your grief will be that you have not done more 
for them when you could, that you have not been 
more considerate, more patient, more loving. 
But then it will be too late. So do all that you 
can now — in the present, which is all that we can 
claim from the past and the future. 

To " follow " any one, means to endeavor to be 
like that person, so it is well for Christ's young 
followers, those who are trying to be His soldiers, 
" faithful, true and bold," to remember His pa- 
tient obedience to His parents as a Boy, and His 
tender, thoughtful care for His mother, even in 
the agony on the cross. 

Of course you cannot literally " strengthen " 
the weak and feeble hands and feet. But by 
willingness and though tfulness you may supply 
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many of the services which they are no longer 
able to undertake. For instance, you can write 
a note, run errands, move a heavy chair from one 
place to another, to allow the feeble occupant a 
slight change. You can pick up balls of worsted 
that will fall to the floor, be ready to put a shawl 
about the shoulders that are so sensitive to a 
draft, and to do many other services which may 
seem very ordinary and trifling mentioned here, 
but the doing or leaving undone of which makes 
a vast difference to the comfort of these weak 
and feeble ones. 



200 



"Be not high-minded, bnt fear."— Rom. 11 : 20. 

PERHAPS some of my boys and girls may 
say when they read this verse, "Why, I 
thought it was a good thing to be high- 
minded ! " 

Well, my dears, that depends altogether upon 
which way of being high-minded you choose, for 
there are two ways. 

There is an inordinate self-esteem and arro- 
gance that sometimes calls itself " high-minded- 
ness," and there is an honorable pride, a gentle 
dignity, a purity and nobility of thought and 
action that truly indicate a high state of mind, 
and nature. This last condition, you may be 
sure, St. Paul would never have forbidden. It 
was the first, the proud and arrogant high-mind- 
edness, that he reproved. 

The people to whom he wrote were Gentiles, 
mostly Greeks and Romans, who had been con- 
verted and brought to believe in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. On all sides of them, in that luxurious 
imperial city, were haughty, scoffing Jews and 
idol- worshiping Greeks and Romans, and know- 
ing human nature well, the great apostle dreaded 
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lest his little handful of converts should begin to 
be high-minded in the wrong way — to think more 
highly of themselves than they ought to think 
and to despise others. So he wrote to warn 
them. 

An old maxim tells us that " Human nature is 
ever the same," which means that all through the 
days and years which go to make up centuries, 
the same feelings, thoughts and experiences keep 
coming to the human beings who live in them. 
So there is, I am sorry to say, just as much need 
for St. Paul's warning to-day, as when it was first 
written, more than nineteen hundred years ago. 

You see the wrong sort of high-mindedness comes 
so gradually, so slyly, that one is often not con- 
scious it is in one's heart, until it has got strongly 
rooted — it puts on so many disguises : A girl is 
clever, quick in her studies, or in some other point 
■ — music, art, languages, or anything else — and 
straightway into her heart creeps a little feeling 
of contempt for the friend or classmate whose 
ability is less ; she grows proud, forgetting from 
Whom her talent has come. A boy has physical 
strength, or business ability, or the faculty of be- 
ing a leader among his fellows, and secretly, or 
perhaps openly, looks down upon those who are 
weak, or slow, or dull. 

These are both wrong ways of being high- 
minded. 

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There is another direction, too, which it takes 
sometimes, and that is saddest of all, and which 
St. Paul had chiefly in mind when he wrote to 
the Komans, and that is when a follower of Christ 
begins to pride himself or herself on being bet- 
ter, holier, or more righteous than some one else. 
This is a very dangerous state for any child of 
God to get into, it crowds out of the heart the 
humility and love of man which are so accept- 
able to God. 

"Be not high-minded, but fear" — fear, dear 
children, to be proud and arrogant, fear to de- 
spise a fellow-creature ; for no matter how low or 
sinful he may be, Jesus Christ died for him as 
well as for you. 

Let that thought keep you from the wrong 
kind of high-mindedness and raise you to be high- 
minded in the right and truest sense of the word 
— by humility and gentleness, by consideration 
for others and by forgetfulness of self. 



203 



LI 

11 And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten 
men that were lepers which stood afar off." — St. Luke 17 : 12. 

HEKE we read of another instance of ten- 
der mercy on the part of the One who 
had come "not to destroy men's lives, 
but to save them. ,, St. Luke tells us that on His 
way to Jerusalem Jesus passed through those 
parts of the country known as Samaria and 
Galilee. " And, as He entered into a certain vil- 
lage, there met Him ten men, that were lepers, 
which stood afar off." 

Leprosy was a fearful disease which was, and 
is still, very prevalent in Palestine. Being very 
contagious, and loathsome and deadly in its ef- 
fects its unfortunate victims were regarded with 
horror, and in accordance with the law they were 
obliged to live apart from the rest of the people. 
Lepers were required to dress in a manner to in- 
dicate their disease and to cry in a loud wailing 
voice as they passed along the streets or roads, 
" Unclean, unclean ! " 

This was done in order that all should hear, 
and take measures to prevent the spread of this 
terrible plague. No one was exempt from these 
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laws, no matter how rich or powerful he or she, 
might be. There was no cure for leprosy ; no 
way then known even to lessen the intense pain 
it entailed, therefore money was of no avail. All 
that the poor unfortunates could do was to en- 
dure with all their fortitude the wretchedness of 
seeing their flesh decay before their very eyes ; 
and death was generally hailed as a welcome 
release from their terrible sufferings. 

Now this was the disease which had possession 
of these ten men, and this was the reason they 
"stood afar off" from the Saviour. They had 
heard of His miracles, for the great Physician's 
fame had spread throughout the land — perhaps a 
thrill of hope had stirred their well-nigh hopeless 
hearts when they heard of His having restored 
hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and 
sight to " him which had been born blind." Or, 
greater miracle yet, of the raising from the dead 
of the widow's son, and the centurion's daughter ! 

Perhaps they had said, eagerlv, one to another : 
"O, let us go to this great prophet, and implore 
His mercy. If He is able to raise the dead to life 
again, He may be able to cure us of this terrible 
disease, or, if not that, He may at least lessen 
this ceaseless pain." 

Try as we will, children, we can never realize 
the tumult of intense hope and fear which must 
have filled the hearts of these ten men, as they 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

came face to face with the Saviour. Notice the 
faith and earnest pathos of their entreaty — 
" Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us ! " 

And our Lord's mercy is swift. He goes 
through no startling ceremony, and His com- 
mand is very simple : " Go show yourselves unto 
the priests " — that was all. 

It was one of the Jewish laws that any one 
healed of disease or recovered from any illness 
whatever, should appear before the priests in the 
temple, and make an offering unto God for His 
mercy in sparing the life of the one who returned 
thanks. The lepers must have guessed at once 
what a blessed hope lay in this command of our 
Lord to go show themselves to the priests, for 
they all obeyed, " and it came to pass that as they 
went they were cleansed ! " The frightful dis- 
ease departed from them, and they were as new 
men — strong and well. 

And now, children, comes a very sad part of 
the story. You remember that there were ten 
lepers. Our Lord healed all ten, He freed them 
from their agonizing pain, and from the degrada- 
tion of their horrible disease and sent them forth 
filled with new health and strength — wouldn't 
you suppose they would at least all have returned 
and expressed their gratitude to Him for His 
great mercy ? But the Bible tells us that only 
" one of them, when he saw that he was healed, 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

turned back and with a loud voice glorified Gocl, 
and fell down on his face at" the Saviour's 
" feet, giving Him thanks ; and he was a Samar- 
itan ! " 

The Lord's gentle, loving heart must have been 
deeply grieved by this ingratitude on the part of 
His chosen people — " He came unto His own, and 
His own received Him not " — oh, children, noth- 
ing hurts so keenly as ingratitude, remember 
this in your daily lives. He asks, " Were there 
not ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? " 

We can hear the sorrow in His voice as He 
notices that of all that were healed none had 
" returned to give glory to God," for the miracle, 
"save this stranger." Then He dismisses the 
grateful Samaritan with these blessed, reassuring 
words : " Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made 
thee whole." 

I fancy I hear some of my boys and girls say, 
" Oh, what ungrateful men ! " 

So they were, but, while you condemn the 
Jews, be careful lest you are committing a like 
sin yourselves. 

God is very good to you all, every thoughtful 
boy and girl knows that. Christ loves you, He 
died for you, you all know that, too, and yet 
many of His " little ones " hardly ever think of 
even thanking Him for the many blessings they 
enjoy, and which come only through His mercy. 
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They forget or are too hurried to say their 
prayers and to read their Bibles, night and morn- 
ing ; Sunday-school and church become irksome 
to them ; and for weeks, sometimes, not a kind 
deed or act of self-denial is done for Christ. 
Don't you call that ingratitude, children ? 

And if the ingratitude of those nine cleansed 
lepers grieved our Lord, how much more grieved 
must He be over the ingratitude of His little sol- 
diers of the Cross. You know He loved little 
children so well that He used to take them into 
His arms and hold them lovingly to His breast, 
and He loves you all just as well to-day as He 
did the little Jewish children of old. 

See to it, dear little men and women, that you 
grieve Him not by the sin of ingratitude, as did 
the nine lepers which were cleansed. 



208 



LII 

" It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. ' ' — Psalm 
92: 1. 

YOU all know, dear children, that the nat- 
ural impulse of a noble heart is to be 
thankful for mercies or kindnesses re- 
ceived, and to let its gratitude take some out- 
ward visible shape or form. For instance, when 
we thank God with our hearts and lips for all 
His goodness and mercy towards us, since last 
Thanksgiving Day, we also bring, as an outward 
sign of this inward gratitude, gifts to lay upon 
His altar, "not grudgingly or of necessity," but 
willingly, gladly, " for the Lord loveth a cheerful 
giver." 

Now, silver and gold are not all that we can 
bring — there is a variety of thank-offerings which 
we can present to Him and if the desire to do 
His will be strong enough, there are always 
means and ways raised up to accomplish it. 

If we love any one very dearly, we want to be 
doing something all the time for that person. 
And in many instances we will be kind to people 
we hardly know, or know not at all for the sake 
of the dear somebody who has been so kind to 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

us, and whom we love so well. In this way 
churches and schools are built, hospitals endowed, 
little sick children cared for and many other 
noble works accomplished. Love is the main 
spring of it all. God loves us. You remember 
that He so loved the world that He gave His 
only Begotten Son to die upon the cross that we 
might be saved. Nothing ought to be too hard 
or too difficult for us to do in return for such 
wonderful love. 

You all have had something to be thankful for 
in the year that has passed since our last Thanks- 
giving Day, and some of you have had many 
good things. Try to think them up, and you 
will be surprised, dear boys and girls, at the long 
list that you will find you can make. Then as 
you realize all the blessings you have and enjoy, 
look around and see what you can do for those 
about you who are not as well off as you are. 
Do it in earnest, and you'll find that there are 
more ways than one of offering a thanksgiving 
to God. 

I know of a dear little boy who saved up his 
pennies to help give a Thanksgiving dinner to 
some poor children who seldom got a good meal. 
When his savings were counted, much to his dis- 
appointment, they were barely enough to provide 
the cranberry sauce, which, it had been planned, 
was to accompany the turkey and mince pie. 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

" I thought I had more," he sighed, shaking 
his head sorrowfully. " It seems as if I had been 
saving for suck a long time, and now there are so 
few pennies to give. Well, never mind, mamma," 
brightening up, " make the cranberry sauce nice 
and sweet and I hope the boys'll enjoy it. It 
isn't much — but as God knows I'm only a little 
boy, perhaps He'll be willing to take it for my 
Thanksgiving offering." 

Indeed God did know. And I am sure the 
little fellow's offering was more acceptable to 
Him than many a larger one which had cost the 
giver less. It is not the quantity of your gift 
that your Heavenly Father looks at, but the 
quality of it; therefore kindly deeds done for 
His sake, charitable acts performed "In His 
Name," hardships endured for love of Him 
and which cost us some self-sacrifice are very 
acceptable to Him who has given us so 
much. 

Our land is full of plenty, our people are grow- 
ing nearer and nearer to Christ's law of " helpful- 
ness towards one another." Each boy and girl 
has some cause for thankfulness — a father's and 
mother's love, a happy home, a dear home circle, 
health, strength, a pleasant school and school- 
mates — and last but decidedly not least, the 
blessed privilege of being able to " pass along " 
to those who are less well off some of the good 
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SUNDAY TALKS 

things which have come to him or her during the 
year. 

So before our feasting and festivities begin, 
dear children, let us give "unto the Father 
of all mercies most humble and hearty thanks 
. . . for our creation, preservation, and all 
the blessings of this life, but above all, for His 
inestimable love in the redemption of the world 
by our Lord Jesus Christ." 



212 



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